Unexpected
by the rose has thorns
Summary: Kakashi and Sakura are bound together by marriage for a mission. How will they grow to accept each other? Ino, Kiba, and Naruto are back ups. Behold as this tale unravels! KakashiSakura please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

"WHAT?" Sakura had her hands on the table and her face set with a furious expression before her Hokage, who raised her eyebrows at Sakura's reaction. She looked behind the 19 year-old apprentice and studied Kakashi's reaction. His one eye that was visible was as wide as a golf ball and his eyebrow was arched and invisible in is silver hair. His hand, which had been resting behind his head when she had told the news, was frozen there in place. Tsunade sighed, and then fixed Sakura with a very stern expression. Upon seeing her face, Sakura quickly jumped back to stand beside Kakashi, leaving two handprints in the Hokage's desk. Kakashi had still said nothing. Tsunade continued on, fixing them both with her 'stage one' glare, which was still scary, although not comparable to her 'stage two' and 'stage three' glares, the latter sending even the most scariest of opponents trembling in a corner.

"Are there any objections that I might want to know of?" she said, eyeing them as if daring them to speak. Sakura was not _that _afraid, however.

"Hokage, he is my former _sensei! _He's probably old enough to be my _father!_" At this comment Kakashi unglued himself enough to say,

"Actually, Sakura I am 28, as a matter of fact. Although I am touched that you would regard me with such a loving title." His lightness of voice did not cover the fact that his last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. The Fifth smirked. She turned to Sakura, who was making a face at her former sensei.

"Sakura, you are being far too over reactive. This is a mission, carried out by able shinobi for the wellness of the village. And this mission is to go into a town undercover as a newlywed and extract information as well as crush a problem that is _threatening _wellness of our village. I am not asking you to love him, or take your relationship to a higher level, but to carry out a mission, and you are being very childish about it."

After this speech, Sakura sighed resignedly and hung her head, thus accepting the mission.

"Now," the woman went on. "Of course you will have to be believable, and so fake intimacy must be used around people. Remember, your story is that you both fled the village because both of your families refused to accept your love for each other and accept the other for their child, resulting in violence, and you two are currently on the run from both your clans. Think of how much love one must feel for another to desert their hometown and family for them, and act accordingly.

"I have arranged for three others to accompany you, as we do not know the full extent of this problem's threat on our village and neighboring villages, so the mission is un-rated and we are taking full precautions. These three people will be Ino Yamanaka, Kiba Inuzuka, and Naruto Uzumaki. As you two are the two main people involved in the mission, these three are meant for guards, help, as in back up. Their explanations for joining you are as follows: Ino is your sister, Sakura, and couldn't bare to have you leave without her, Kiba is her boyfriend, soon-to-be husband and cannot bear to live without her, and Naruto is Kakashi's nephew and Kakashi is his only living relative. Any questions?"

Sakura did one of those anime sweat drops upon hearing this. _Ino? _Oh, the embarrassment…And Kiba and Naruto were the most obnoxious shinobi of their class! They wouldn't be exactly mature upon hearing this either.

"Here is your marriage contract. I have already signed it, so you two are now officially a married couple. Don't worry, though, I can undo it after you get back. You are dismissed. Oh, and report to the gates before midday tomorrow for your departure. The Land of the Waterfall is, at least, a two-day journey, and this mission is suspected to be no more than two months, no less than one month, so pack accordingly. Good luck."

A still-in-shock Sakura and a good-as-new, cool-as-can-be Kakashi emerged from the room, seeing Ino, Kiba and Naruto waiting to be called in. Sakura wondered how long they had been there and if they had heard anything, so didn't glance in their direction and got away from that room. Her and Kakashi walked alongside each other. Kakashi didn't seem to care and had pulled out his _Icha Icha _novel. Sakura was almost disgusted. He had just gotten _married, _for goodness sake!

"How many times have you _read _that book? Every time we see you, you have it with you. You must have read it at least a thousand times!"

Kakashi turned a page before answering. He did not look at her, his eyes still glued on the book.

"You'd be surprised at how many books there are in this series, but I'd say, since this is my favorite one, I've read it about seventeen to eighteen times," he said smoothly. Sakura did another sweat drop.

"_Pervert! _I'm married to a _pervert!_"

Kakashi shrugged. There was silence.

"Sakura."

"Yeah?"

"You know you can't act like that around me starting tomorrow, right? We have to be madly in love. That means a lot of work on both our sides. From you, there can be no slips like that, and we have to refer to each other like 'darling' or 'sweetie'. We might have to hold hands, even kiss in public. You understand?" Sakura could tell he was trying to be kind, and now since the initial shock had worn off, she could start to act normally again. She sighed and nodded. It wasn't like she had not had to kiss someone for a mission before. And more often than not, it had been someone less decent than Kakashi. Sakura felt like she should say this to him, but could not bring herself to compliment him like that after what had just happened.

_See Sakura, that's one of the problems with this mission. If you can't even bring yourself to say that much to your husband now, what's gonna happen when the mission really starts?_

_What happens now doesn't matter. I know I'll be able to pull it off when we need to. I just don't feel like it right now._

_Uh huh, yeah, right._

Sakura sighed again and bid Kakashi good-bye, as her house had come into view.


	2. Maybe?

As she was packing, deep in thought, her phone rang. She sighed, hoping to her God (sorry I forgot the name they use in the anime series) that it wasn't someone who had just found out about the mission. Of course, fate didn't smile kindly on her.

"Hello?"

"SAKURA! OMG, YOUR FUCKING MARRIED TO YOUR OLD SENSEI! HA HA HA!" Sakura sighed, she didn't want to deal with Ino, so hung up and began walking back to her room. But it began to ring again, so Sakura walked back to her phone, hesitated, then picked it up.

"Hello?"

"HA HA HA!"

Sakura hung up again. But, as expected, it rang again.

_This is the last time, _she told herself, then sighed and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Sakura? (giggle) You have to (giggle) come over to my place. I'm (giggle) inviting everyone to spend the night so we can (giggle) talk over the mission plan. My parents are out (giggle) so there will be space for all of us (giggle). Oh, and don't even think about not coming. I talked to Tsunade and she says you have to. So (giggle) see you later!" Ino hung up. Sakura gave a "UGGHHHHH!" in exasperation.

_Damn Tsunade._

An hour later, Sakura emerged from her dark and locked up apartment with a pack with necessary items. She slowly made her way to Ino's place. About ten minutes away, she blinked and then saw that Kakashi had materialized beside her.

"Yo," he greeted her, and then silence followed.

_Sakura, you need to end this. This awkward silence has got to stop, I mean, you're married now._

"So," she said, as they continued to walk on. "You're coming to Ino's place, right?" she boldly looked up at him and spoke with a smile on her face, as if everything was normal. She saw he was smiling too, under his mask, at her. For some reason, the prospect of her husband smiling at her made her heart beat just a tiny little bit faster.

"Yeah. But only 'cause…"

"The Fifth said so, right?" she finished, and gave a chuckle. "Same here." He nodded.

"I figured," he said, and they walked on in silence.

They reached the gate to Ino's house and stopped for just a moment. She looked up at him with a small smile and then they pushed open the gated and continued down the path. Before having to knock, the door opened, revealing a ecstatic Ino, a smirking Kiba, and a Naruto that had an expression that replicated Kiba's.

"_Finally! _I was beginning to think you lovebirds weren't going to show! Isn't this a special occasion? Come in, come in! Tons of joy awaits you!" Sakura tried to copy Kakashi, who acted cool as if this didn't irk him and just shucked her shoes and passed them into the entrance hall.

"Congratulations to the newlyweds," Kiba said, still smirking. Kakashi looked at him.

"Thank you very much, Kiba. Oh, and also congratulations to you, too, on your recent acquirement of a girlfriend you can't bear to live without." Sakura, who had been trying to act like Kiba had said nothing, passed him with a smirk. Akamaru barked at them, but not like he was going to kill them or anything.

_CHEA! Score one for team Kakashi/Sakura! _Inner Sakura roared.

Naruto nudged Sakura in the side.

"Hey Sakura, is he any good, you know, in bed? 'Cause I heard that ruins a relationship, and we wouldn't want that happening on a mission, now would we?" Sakura could not hold her 'cool' cover any longer.

"_NARUTOOO!" _she brandished her fist that was just aching to punch him. However, she felt a hand on her shoulder and stopped.

"You know Naruto, I seem to have a certain flashback to the time when you got so excited one time with Hinata and your erection got so large that when came and sat on your lap, she got so embarrassed that she fled the bar. Do _you _remember that?" Kakashi spoke in a very casual way at first but ended out with his voice dripping with amusement. Naruto turned a shade of deep, _deep _red and mumbled something about seduction. Sakura almost fell on the floor laughing and stuck her tongue out at him when she finally calmed down. When she was able to focus on their surroundings, she was aware that Kakashi had his arm around her. Ino saw this and instantly a wide smile plastered her face.

"Oh _guys! _This is just so _sweet! _Come on, I'll show you your room!" Upon hearing this, Sakura's smile fell.

_Did she just say, 'room'? OMG, I forgot! Are we going to be sleeping together? Kakashi and me? Oh, shiiit. Now what are they going to do to us?_

Kakashi kept his cool and they followed behind Ino to their room, with Naruto and Kiba behind, who she could hear were snickering. The Yamanaka house was quite nice and spelled 'wealthy' all over it. When they finally reached the doors, Ino gave them one last smirk and pushed open the doors.

"We gave you two the master bedroom, seeing as it is your wedding night and all. Before you two get too…um (giggle) 'occupied' please remember to meet us downstairs as soon as you can (giggle). Have fun, um…see you! (giggle giggle giggle)" pushed them in and closed the doors shut behind them. Kakashi led her into the lavish room and whispered,

"I think you and I both know their ears are currently glued to the door." Sakura nodded. They dumped their bags on the bed and Sakura jumped on it. She rolled over and felt Kakashi jump on the bed as well. She turned to face him. They looked into each others eyes silently for a long while. Finally he broke the silence.

"They're gone," he said. She nodded, and sighed.

"I guess we should get down before they get ideas," she said quietly. She rolled off the bed and Kakashi followed.

"Hold on, Sakura." He said, as she was already at the door. She turned around curiously. He walked up to her and engulfed her with his arms. Sakura almost gasped but managed to hold herself back, and returned the hug.

_Why is he doing this?_

"Sakura, let's try to not let them get to us. They're not serious, just joking. I think we should act more like a couple, starting now. Whenever anyone says anything or smirks, just ignore it. If its OK with you…we could hold hands or something. If we act embarrassed or ashamed of the marriage, this mission will definitely be a failure. OK?" Sakura nodded, but went on,

"Kakashi, I'm really not ashamed or anything now. After you handled them like that back there, I think I know what to do. I'll agree to holding hands for now. Maybe over the next two days we'll learn to act even more affectionate towards each other, but…I really need to get to know you better over the next two days than I already do if this mission is going to work. So, would you teach me about you starting tomorrow?" she looked up, at his eye. She saw his smile widen and he kissed her cheek.

"Of course, Sakura. Now lets go, shall we?"

_Where did all this affection from him come from? It's like he's changed in between the time we left to go pack and then met up on the road. Maybe this could actually work out._


	3. It has begun

**OK, for starters, I DO NOT own Naruto, or its characters, blah blah blah**

**On with the story!**

Downstairs everyone was gathered at a table, waiting for them. Everyone hushed as they came in. Sakura ignored their grins and walked in hand in hand with Kakashi. They took their seats, and said nothing. Kakashi lounged in his chair as if bored, and Sakura had a defiant expression on her face and her arms crossed against her chest. She could actually _feel _Ino's eyes narrowing.

_OH YEAH BABY! Score TWO for team Kakashi/Sakura!_

Kakashi sighed.

"So? What's the plan for the mission?"

The mission was to go into a Land of the Waterfall village in their disguises. This village housed one of the hundreds of waterfalls found throughout the land, and their client, the village 'leader', sort of, felt some outsider was planning on taking over that area, including that village and the ones surrounding it, to control the minerals that were hidden in the ground. However, he wasn't sure who it was, or where they were planning from, and the suspicious activity had began to start around three months ago, about one complaint every two weeks, so that's why it was going to be a long-term mission. The five of them were supposed to discover who it was, and stop the source. But if they were working on one clue every two weeks they would have to find a way to pass time, so they decided they would act like that village was the one they had chosen to live in, and would find a place to live in and jobs for each of them.

It was late when they had finally decided to drag themselves up to bed. But that didn't stop Ino, Kiba, and Naruto from passing snide comments about Kakashi and Sakura's first night together. The two of them went up to their bedroom, talking comfortably with each other, the uncomfortable distance that had been between them no more. After changing, Sakura walked to the bed and collapsed on it. She could hear a shower turn on and that was the last thing she thought of before drifting off…

Kakashi emerged from the bathroom with a cloud of steam, drying his hair with a towel. He saw that Sakura had already fallen asleep, and he sighed inwardly. He had wanted to chat for a bit, but oh well. She _did _look very pretty when she was sleeping. He thought that this was the calmest you could get Sakura Haruno.

_Sakura Haruno-Hatake now…_

He got under the covers as well and fell asleep thinking of what had happened.

The first think Sakura was aware of when she woke up the next day: Kakashi slept shirtless. She gasped and sat up in a flash, breathing heavily, wondering why in the _hell _she was not sleeping alone. Then she remembered. She took a deep breath and calmed down. Sometime during the night she had snuggled up to Kakashi and when she woke up the first thing she saw was tanned, muscular abs. She looked back and saw Kakashi had woken too.

"Sakura?" he said sleepily.

"Oh, Kakashi, it's, um, nothing. You can go back to…sleep now, I'm gonna take a shower, OK?"

He yawned and sat up as well. "Might as well get up now. We have to leave early anyways. Did you sleep well?"

Sakura smiled at him and nodded, then got up out of the bed and stretched. "How about you?"

"Very. Anyways, do you know what time it is? She said we had to be gone my midday…" As if in response to him, they heard banging on the door.

"Sakura! Kakashi-sensei! Get your lazy Asses up, everyone's already ready to go, and it's ten-thirty!"

"Oh, shit," Sakura groaned, then yelled back, "Hold ON, Ino-pig! We're almost ready!" Sakura heard giggling, and then noises as Ino walked away. Sakura was already running towards the bathroom. "I'll be out in a sec," she told Kakashi and with that, slammed the bathroom door.

Twenty minutes later, they found themselves walking down the staircase and into the kitchen, where breakfast smells had led them. Kiba and Naruto were stuffing their faces with food, and when they came in, almost choked. Ino had an apron on and clasped her hands together when they arrived.

"Oh, _there _you guys are! You guys really slept in, were you _tired _after last night's events?" Ino broke out laughing, and Kiba and Naruto, who had finally managed to swallow their food, joined her. Kakashi took and seat and Sakura followed.

"Oh, yes, they were very tiring. I passed out as soon as I hit the bed," Sakura said, piling stuff onto her plate. Kakashi raised his hand.

"Same here. I slept very well." Kiba was eyeing them as he smirked and handed food under the table to Akamaru.

"I'm sure you did," he said, as if it were some kind of joke. Naruto, whose mouth was stuffed with food, made a sound and nodded his head, agreeing with Kiba. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Naruto, you goofball."

They all reached the gate around 11:45. After a while, they saw Shizune.

"Kakashi-senpai." Shizune handed him two scrolls. "One is to be given to the client upon arrival to the village. The other is a map and surrounding geography. Tsunade-same wants you all to record everything observed from day one. We'll be sending something occasionally to be a source of communication. Ready?"

"Hai," everyone said. Shizune smiled, and looked from Sakura back to Kakashi. "Congratulations, for one thing, and good luck!"

_Shizune too? _Sakura thought as they disappeared in a flash. She saw what Shizune had said had brought new smirks to three of her comrades. She sighed, but then returned her attention to the task at hand. They were now in the trees. Their mission had begun.

**That's another chapter. Thank you to everyone who reviewed:**

**Ihaconch**

**Daisuke1991**

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**Hourglass67**

**You guys rule! But I would like more reviews, so keep them coming! Thank you everyone for reading!**


	4. The journey

**Hi everyone! I'm practically piling one chapter on top of another. It's been like ten hours since I began the story, and I can't stop writing! So enjoy!**

**Oh yeah and I don't own Naruto.**

They passed through the lush green vegetation for hours, stopping for a twenty-minute break at one time, and then when the sun was starting to set to set up camp. Everyone was talking and joking normally. Sakura learned a lot about Kakashi during that time, and told him a lot about her as well. When the end of the day was nearing, Sakura felt like she was talking to a whole different person every time they exchanged words. She felt honored that he would share such depressing parts of his history with her, but they _were _depressing, after all. However, Kakashi felt like a much better friend to her by the end of the day. There was not even a trace of uncomfort between them, and this in turn made Kiba, Sakura, and Naruto more uncomfortable around them. Pretty soon all comments about them disappeared altogether.

When they stopped, Kakashi gathered them in a group and told them quietly,

"From here on out, enemy ninja could be spying on us, so we have to take up our roles respectively. Ino and Kiba, you have to act like a couple, as do Sakura and I. Am I understood?"

"Hai," they all said seriously. Kakashi sighed. "Now, I know this might be a little uncomfortable for you, but we have two tents. And, due to circumstances and the roles we are playing, Sakura and I will have one tent, Ino and Kiba will have one tent, and Naruto will sleep outside on a bedroll."

"HUH?" Naruto said, looking back and forth between all of them. Then he pouted and crossed his arms. "Not fair," he muttered. Ino patted him on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, you have Akamaru for company." She was grinning. Kakashi went on,

"That reminds me. Naruto, you and Akamaru will also serve as a guard, sort of. You two will have to alert us if you sense enemy ninja, although I don't know why they would attack us. Everyone ready? OK."

They had an apple and a strip of meat each for dinner, seeing as there wasn't a stream nearby. Whenever anyone talked to another, they played their roles. Sakura and Kakashi sat close together by the fire, and Ino and Kiba on the other side of the fire. Naruto sat in the middle and kept the conversation flowing. Mostly they talked about their made up lives. It was relatively fun, actually.

When it was time to go to sleep, they pitched the tents and bade each other good night. It was chilly, and Sakura shivered as she changed. She crept into the bedroll and snuggled a little closer to Kakashi for heat. They silently gazed into each other's eyes. Sakura gave a grin.

"Kakashi," she said, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Can I see what's underneath your mask? As a wedding present? Pleeaaaase?" she begged. She could see Kakashi smile.

"Maybe another time," he said, and ended the conversation by closing his eye. Sakura sighed, and then smiled at her former sensei. She watched him until he fell asleep, and then slowly began drifting off herself.

Kakashi was suddenly awake. What had awoken him? He moved his eye around in the dark, and felt before he saw, the presence of a body snuggled very tightly next to his. He looked down, and saw Sakura was holding on to him tightly, shivering. Her face was snuggled under his chin, and he could feel her breasts against his chest as he breathed in and out…

_Why is my heart beating so fast?_

Sakura shivered again. Kakashi draped an arm around her carefully, and gave her his part of the blanket. He waited, and watched. Slowly, Sakura calmed down more in her sleep, and her body warmed against his, although her grip on him did not loosen. He smiled, closed his eyes, and fell asleep again.

A blinding flash of light. Then screams.

"AAARRRGGGGHHHH! MY EYES, MY EYES!" Sakura lifted her head, confused and squinting. She was snuggled up to Kakashi again, but she didn't freak out this time. She sat up, and Kakashi followed, both of them confused. The flap to their tent had just been opened, that was where the blinding flash had come from, Sakura knew.

"NARUTO, CALM DOWN!" Sakura recognized this as Ino's voice, who was probably grumpy after being awakened. Sakura pushed open the flap and went outside. Kakashi appeared at her side a minute later, after putting a shirt on.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked sleepily. Naruto turned towards him and screamed again. He raised a finger towards Kakashi accusingly.

"YOU PERVERTED, SICK OLD MAN!" he exclaimed. Kakashi was totally clueless, as was Sakura.

"Huh?" they said simultaneously. Naruto went on,

"I SAW, I SAW YOU SO SNUGULLY WITH HER! MAN THAT'S SICK! She's SAKURA-CHAN we're talking about!!!" he moved his finger to Sakura. Sakura raised a fist and without any hesitation, punched him, sending him flying a good twenty yards.

"BAKA, WE'RE MARRIED! Kakashi, please knock some sense into your nephew!" Kakashi chuckled.

"I think you already have," he said, grinning at the sight before him. Naruto was struggling to get up.

"Sakura…Chan?" he collapsed, like always.

"Baka," Sakura muttered again, and walked up to the disheveled Naruto. Kiba had just pulled the tent flap up and was about to exit. One foot was inside and one out, and his mouth was open at the sight before him. Then he broke out laughing. Ino followed, and Sakura was holding Naruto by the collar and shaking him about, lecturing him. Kakashi scratched behind his head, chuckling.

_She really is a mini Tsunade._

One hour and a lot of grumbling later, they were on their way out again. Sakura had returned to her old self, as had Naruto. They decided to take their time, as they were way ahead of schedule as to where they should be. They leisurely made their way down the path, and even stopped at a stream for lunch. Naruto and Kiba cought the fish, and Kakashi started the fire. The two girls were having enough work out in front of themselves trying to act like they were loving sisters.

After lunch, the five made their way down the road, laughing and chatting. Kiba, Ino, and Naruto were up ahead of Sakura and Kakashi, who were perfectly intent just talking to each other and understanding each other. Sakura had never seen Kakashi open up so much, and had never seen him laugh so much in one day. However, not always they talked. They were also perfectly comfortable with the silences that other people might find awkward. Kakashi would even take out is _Icha Icha _book and start reading from time to time, always resulting in a sigh from Sakura and a frown. She guessed some things would never change.

**Here's another one right off! Man, I've never written so much in such a short period of time.**

**Please review! **


	5. Reaching the destination

**I do not own Naruto**

Before even reaching the village, they saw a waterfall. As they went along, a stream materialized, turning into a river, which became so huge you had to shout to talk to the person next to you. And—as expected—at the end of the gushing waterway was an extravagant waterfall. Looking down, they saw a village located around the waterway the waterfall created, although a good four or five miles away from it, to avoid flood. They ran the rest of the way there, and stopped at the entrance, to begin walking.

The town was of normal size. Much smaller then Konoha, but larger than some they had seen. The marketplace consisted of one string of shops. There were about eight or nine of them, and across from that side of the street there was one two-story hospital, one three-story inn, the 'leader's' house, and three places to eat out at. Scattered around the town were stands that sold things like hand-woven baskets, or fruit and vegetables. Most people worked at the mine that they had gone around to get to the village, but they thought there must have been a few agricultural families that lived around the area too. All the people lived, unless they worked with agriculture, on two lanes that intersected the main road. But they knew there were houses scattered further away from town too. They made their way to the leader's house, and a middle-aged man answered the door. Once they were let in and they introduced themselves, they were seated in a small sitting area, where they proceeded to talk of plans and suspicious activity that had been heard of.

"Where are we going to stay for the time we're here?" Kiba questioned. The old man looked thoughtful.

"Hmmm…well, I know for a fact that all the houses on those lanes are taken…but, if you move further out into the country, there might be a deserted house or two. Until you get one of those, the best would be to reside in the inn. I would offer you my house, but I think that that would blow you're cover, right?"

"Hai," they said. Kakashi stood, and the others followed.

"Thank you very much, old man!" Naruto said enthusiastically. They left and walked to the inn next door.

"Yes?" the lady inquired when they rang the bell.

"Hi, we'd like to reserve some rooms, please," Kakashi said cheerfully. The lady examined the group, question etched over her face. Kakashi hurried to make introductions.

"I am Obito, and this is my new wife," he said, indicating Sakura. "This is my nephew, and that is my wife's sister, Rai. He is her 1fiancé. We come from Konoha. We have been banned by our clans and seek home here. While we search for living space, we want to reside here." The lady gave them a small smile.

"Of course. You must be weary from your travels. So that's two rooms?"

"Um, yes." They gave her the money, she gave them the keys to their rooms. Once they were away from her, Kakashi gave a sigh of relief. They went inside their rooms. Kakashi gave a sigh of relief as he closed the door. "I had to make up names pretty fast."

"Yeah, interesting choice, _Obito,_" Sakura teased. She knew the namesake and knew he wouldn't be offended. Kakashi shrugged.

"It was the first thing that came to mind." He helped her unpack a little and then went to see how the others were faring in their room. Sakura finished up her unpacking. At the bottom of the pack, she was surprised to see something she hadn't packed. Fishing down, she picked up a small box and a small container. She gasped when she saw what they were. Her face grew red, and she dropped them and dug into Kakashi's pack. At the bottom was an envelope that had hers and Kakashi's name on it. She opened it and skimmed over its contents, going redder by the minute.

"Sakura?" Kakashi had returned. Sakura looked up. He saw her red face, and he saw the box of condoms and lubricant she had dropped. He reached for the letter and read it himself.

_Dear lovebirds,_

_We thought we would help speed up the process a little, I mean, it's going to happen sooner or later, right? We didn't want anything to slow you down, so we went to the liberty of getting these things for you. Hopefully, you both will see the good will that was in our hearts as we did this, and, maybe, you will one day thank us (or not)._

_HAVE FUN!!_

_XOXOXO_

_Ino, Naruto, and Kiba_

"Ah," was all he could say. Sakura sighed.

"Well, this is pretty embarrassing," she muttered. "And here I thought we were getting along real well." Kakashi looked up.

"This doesn't have to change our friendship. It's just a silly little prank. What, you've never had something like this done to you before?" Sakura looked at him with wide eyes.

"You _have _had something like this done to you?" Sakura asked. Kakashi looked back at her.

"Sakura, have you never…done it before?"

Sakura knew she didn't have to ask him what 'it' was. Silence met his words. Then, in a very small voice,

"No."

"Oh."

The door flew open to reveal Kiba, Naruto, and Ino.

"Guys, we're starving. Where do you want to…" Kiba trailed off, seeing the package of condoms on the floor and the lubricant. He smirked.

"Found our little gift, huh?" Sakura ignored him as the color slowly drained off. She was _not _going to be seen blushing in front of _them._

Kakashi stood.

"You, know proper etiquette would be to knock rather than come barging in. And do you mean that childish prank? Yeah. Don't you three think you're a little old enough for things like that?"

"Kakashi-sensei, we may be adults, but we aren't nearly as old as you," Ino said, laughing.

"I'm not even thirty, Ino," Kakashi said dryly. Seriously, did everyone think he was that old?

"Doesn't matter. Oi! But what are we going to do about food? I'm dying of hunger over here!" Naruto said loudly, as usual. Sakura stood up as well, finally feeling normal enough to act normal.

"Naruto, you'll just have to deal with the food this inn has. No doubt all the restaurants are closed by now," she said in her normal voice. The group went downstairs to see what was being offered to the clients.

They ate downstairs, where many people questioned them about their history and back round. They fed them the tale they had been told to tell, which called for a lot of acted intimacy on Kakashi, Sakura, Kiba, and Ino's part. All that acting gave her a lot of work to do and kept her mind off her and Kakashi's conversation before. After dinner was finally over, they trudged upstairs and into their rooms. Sakura quietly changed and got into bed, falling asleep before Kakashi came back from his shower. When he saw this, he sighed and got underneath the covers as well. Maybe he had pushed a little too far on that one. But, seriously, she was a virgin? Woah. He never would've thought the beautiful Sakura could last that long. He would need to talk to her in the morning and make it up…but that could wait…he was too tired now…

**Thank you reviewers, especially BloodBloosom. You make me blush. ; )**

**Keep up the reviews everyone! It keeps me going.**


	6. huh?

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy **

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

The next morning Kakashi felt disturbed and woke up not wanting to, feeling like he hadn't gotten any rest over the night. Next to him he saw Sakura, who was still asleep. Then was when he realized what he was missing. He had gotten used to her cuddling up to him over the past two nights. It was funny how quickly you could get used to someone. He grunted and got up, immediately rousing Sakura.

"Sleep well?" he asked her quietly.

"Not really," she murmured as she sat up too.

"Look, Sakura, I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have said that…"

"It's OK Kakashi."

"Really?"

Sakura actually turned and gave him a small smile.

"Really. It's OK." Sakura turned back, and then said in a small voice, "Besides, Kakashi, if I was to talk of my sex life to anyone, who would be better than my husband?" she was trying to undo the distance she had created, trying to loosen up the atmosphere. Kakashi realized this and smiled.

"Well, I slept like shit," he said bluntly. "But we should start getting ready. Today we should start looking for jobs, I think. Ready for another day?"

"To really want an honest answer?" She said, and then disappeared behind the bathroom door. Kakashi sighed in relief.

_Man this is really stressing. I'm beginning to agree to Shikamaru's philosophy that women are troublesome._

He sighed and got up.

XOXOXO

The boys left to find work in the mines, while the two girls were to stay in the town area to look for work. They both found work at the same place, a shop that had just opened and sold meat. Having nothing to do for the rest of the day, they retired to the inn. They both sat in Sakura and Kakashi's room. First they talked about random stuff, like past missions. Then Ino asked out of the blue,

"So Sakura Haruno-Hatake. Have you really, you know, done _it _yet with your new husband?"

_What's with these 'it's'?_

Sakura fixed Ino with a glare.

"Baka. Like I'd tell you," she said stubbornly. Ino gasped.

"So you _have! _OMG, OMG! Are you pregnant? No, that's why we sent the condoms!" Another gasp. Sakura had just started to recover from one of those anime sweat drops. "Wait! Did you do it that first night? I _thought _you two…"

"INO!" Sakura roared. "We haven't done _anything, _alright?" she hissed. "I can't believe you and you're big fat mouth…"

"Not as big and fat as that space below your hair and above your eyebrows, _forehead girl_."

"_Ino-pig!_"

"Hmph!" They both said at the same time. There was a pause.

"You know, Sakura…"

"What?"

"I'm actually really jealous of you for…BEING MARRIED TO YOUR FUCKING OLD SENSEI! HA HA HA!"

Sakura glared holes into Ino, who glared right back.

"You're just jealous 'cause I got the main part of the mission and you didn't!" Sakura countered. Ino gasped.

"You think _I'd _be jealous of _you_?"

"Hell yeah! I've thought something along those lines for a few years now!"

"It's obvious you're just stressing 'cause you can't get him in your pants!"

"Oh yeah? I should be saying the same thing to you about Kiba! Naruto's getting to be quite a nuisance at night, isn't he?"

"THAT'S IT!"

"BRING IT ON!"

They tackled each other and began rolling on the bed, trying to get punches at the other one. Ino finally managed to tackle Sakura down.

"You know, Sakura, if you're having sex issues, just talk to me! I could definitely help you, you know!" Sakura, with brute force, managed to roll over, now being the one with the advantage.

"OH I'M SURE—what?" she had just registered what Ino had said. She rolled off into a sitting position.

"_You _think you can give sex advice to _me_?" Ino gave a snotty flip of the hair.

"Of course. After all, I am much more experienced in that area, you can't argue with that."

Sakura grumbled something ineligible. Anyone who had known Sakura as long as Ino did would know that Sakura was a virgin.

"That's right. And you know you want him. So why not let me help you?" Ino whispered after glancing at the door.

Sakura gasped.

"You! I can't believe you fucking said that! He's my _friend!_" she hissed in a whisper that only Ino could hear her. Ino snorted.

"Friend, huh? You don't sleep with guy friends and snuggle up to them, sex or not."

There was a pause.

"Look, Ino. This is a mission. We can't have that nonsense. It would distract the mission. And just so you know, I honestly, seriously _don't want to do that with him_. We're friends. That's it. So can this conversation please end?" Sakura said. Ino crossed her arms and grumbled something about nobody knowing. Sakura sighed. She couldn't believe she had actually had that conversation.

XOXOXO

The boys came back, tired but happy, saying they had indeed gotten jobs. They all had a quick dinner downstairs and then, all of them tired, went to bed.

XOXOXO

**Hi guys! Here is, yet another, chapter. I've been at the computer almost all day today. I started this last night, around ten, and its like 7:30 P.M. and I've written six chapters! I check my reviews really often, and seriously, you guys rock! Just KEEP THE REVIEWS COMING!!!**


	7. fairy tales

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy **

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

In the morning everyone left for their respective jobs. Sakura and Ino played their roles as loving sisters perfectly, or at least Sakura thought that. They helped cut, stack, pack, hang, and sell the meat, making them very worn out and smelly by the end of the day. If it wasn't for the plastic poncho they wore, they would have also had an issue with blood and other things splattered all over their clothes as well. Ino was practically freaking out, and as soon as they got back to the inn, headed straight for what Sakura knew was going to be an hour-long shower. Sakura herself had a shower too, but got out much sooner than Ino, and so just swung her legs on the bed, bored. She looked around the room, and saw the box and the lubricant. She bit her lip. Why did looking at those things make her feel so jumpy? She saw Kakashi's _Icha Icha _book, which made her feel even more jumpy. Kakashi read about stuff like that every day, and _enjoyed_ it. That made him such a big perv. But then, why didn't he act like a normal perv., like Jiraiya? He was always so gentlemanly, and nice. You would have never guessed someone like him would read stuff like _that_. She shuddered, not wanting to know what ran through that book, and Kakashi's head every time he read it.

There was a knock on the door and then Kakashi let himself in. He was covered with dirt, and went to the bathroom to wash his face.

"Why don't you take a shower? I don't want to sleep next to you when you're all dirty," Sakura said jokingly. Kakashi was serious, though.

"I will, but I have to tell you something first. I really don't want to have to say this, but the village has suddenly gotten nosy about us. They want to know why we never kiss in public, never tease each other, you know, in a kind of, shall I say, sensual way. And, um, they think its odd you never have that the-day-after-sex blush on your face." He scratched behind his head.

"Got it. I'll make myself blush every morning from now on so that the gossip will stop," Sakura said, still in a playful mood.

"Nah nah. That's not all. We've got to act closer in public. I mean, closer than friends. You know?" Sakura nodded.

"Although I don't know how I'm going to kiss you when your mask is on all the time," she said. Kakashi chuckled.

"Do you really want to see my face, Sakura?" Sakura scooted closer and nodded eagerly.

"Definitely! Please, please, please?" she begged. Kakashi was still grinning.

"OK, fine. I'll give you just a tiny peek."

"It better not be another mask," Sakura muttered, leaning in anxiously.

Kakashi took a hold of it, and slowly began peeling it off.

When he was finally done, Sakura was speechless. Kakashi was so…handsome. How come he kept a mask on, dammit? He would be practically swarmed with ladies every day. Sakura felt her lips twitching.

"So?" he asked, amused.

"Wow," was all she could say. There was silence. As if in magnetic attraction, Sakura found herself leaning closer, and closer. Kakashi met her half way.

And they were kissing. Sakura leaned on his lean, fit body and they both fell on the bed. They were still kissing. Sakura was so surprised she found herself light-headed, and not over complete control of her body. Both at the same time, they had snuck out their tongues to ask for entrance. The tongues met, and both of them felt a jolt run through their body. Sakura had never felt this way before, as if she was…free. She loved the feeling, and she loved the feeling of his lips on hers, his tongue clashing and sparring with hers. She had never had a kiss like this ever in her life. They both pulled apart, at the same time, gasping for breath. They had not one idea of how long they had been making out. Sakura looked into his eyes, one so dark, and the other a striking red. They searched in each other's eyes, for the reason that had happened, the reason for what they had just done.

"Sa-Sakura?"

"Kakashi," she whispered in reply.

Kakashi rolled, taking Sakura with him, so he was on top.

"What just happened?" Sakura, who wasn't exactly a stranger to strength either, rolled back so she was on top again.

"I don't know. But I…" Kakashi rolled and he was on top again.

"I know. I enjoyed it too." Again, Sakura was on top.

"But this isn't right. Tsunade-sama will be mad. This isn't part of the mission, and…" _Roll._

"And this is taboo. I know. So this never happened, right?" _Roll._

"Yeah, I guess so. But…" _Roll._

"But what?" _Roll._

"But I _don't know, _OK?" she said, aggravated and not making sense. _Roll_.

"Sakura. I don't want to make this harder on us. If we don't end this now, what's going to happen when this mission is over with and we return to Konoha? Breaking this will be much harder. It might even break our hearts." _Roll._

"Kakashi, I _know. _I just…it was just a _kiss. _It wasn't anything serious. Why are we making this a big deal when we it doesn't have to be? I won't die if this isn't a long-term thing. I mean…"

There was banging on the door.

"Sakura chan! Kakashi sensei! We actually knocked this time so come quick or we'll burst in like last time!" Sakura rolled off, and Kakashi groped for his mask. Sakura jumped up and opened the door.

"Sakura Chan!" Naruto sang.

"We've all decided to get dinner earlier today, so we can eat at a restaurant. Ready?" Kiba asked.

"Um, yeah, I think. I am. Kakashi?"

Kakashi was now reading his book. He looked up.

"Sure, sure. Be there in a sec, just gotta change my clothes. Sakura, could you help me find that shirt I brought, the black short-sleeved one?" Sakura saw an excuse and nodded her head.

"Sure. We'll meet you all downstairs, OK?"

Her friends retreated down the stairs. Kakashi pulled out the said black shirt and took off his old one.

"Sakura, we'll continue this conversation later, OK?" Sakura nodded her head silently, waiting for him to finish changing. "How do I look?"

"Your hair. There's still bits of dirt in it."

"Aww, damn. Oh well. I'll just leave it…" He walked up, and was about to pass her, but Sakura stopped him. She reached up and began brushing the dirt away.

"I'm not a kid anymore Kakashi. Remember that, OK?" He looked into her eyes.

"Hai," he said quietly. She finished and they left. As they walked downstairs, Kakashi whispered to her, "Remember, a little more intimacy." She nodded. They joined hands and reached the bottom floor. "Everyone ready? Let's go!" Kiba made an aggravated noise.

"We're the ones who should be saying that to you guys, baka…"

XOXOXO

The raised level of intimacy wasn't that hard for Sakura. Although she knew it was acting, them teasing each other and referring to each other as 'dear' or 'honey', and them talking like they were madly in love made her feel much better. At the end of dinner, they made their way back to he inn. Kakashi headed for the shower, but Sakura kept awake knowing he had said he had wanted to continue the conversation. Kakashi emerged, shirtless, as usual, and nursing his wet hair with a towel. He layed down beside her and said,

"I think we did much better tonight."

"I think so too."

"Hmm." There was a pause.

"Didn't you wish that it could stay like that? I mean, us teasing each other like best friends…"

"We weren't acting as best friends, Sakura. We were acting as a newly married couple. Those two are a lot different."

"Not as different as you think."

Kakashi didn't answer immediately.

"Look, Sakura, what we did was wrong, and out of line. I regret it now. No matter what we felt, what we wanted…it was straying from the mission, something we cannot do. Like you said, the Fifth will be angry with us, and…" he trailed off. "Do you understand?"

Salura slowly nodded.

"I know I was foolish to think something like that could exist, it's just…too many fairy tales, I guess," she said quietly.

"We still have roles to play. How about we act like this never happened?"

Sakura nodded again, and snuggled up to him, getting ready to sleep. Kakashi draped an arm around her.

"Good night, Sakura."

XOXOXO

**HA HA HA! How do you like that? It took me forever to write, although it might not seem like it. I had to revise and re-write and revise and re-write. Anyway…**

**PLEASE REVIEW!!! **


	8. a lead and something else

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**I'm really sorry for all the spelling mistakes out there, I'm writing it in too much of a hurry, so they just pop out. Just bear with me, OK? **

**XOXOXO**

The routine was set for the next few days. Everyone got up, went to work, worked, come back to the inn, showered, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Sakura and Kakashi grew back to being good friends, although Sakura was all the time thinking of the kiss, and their conversation. What had possessed her in the first place to do that, and then to want to continue a relationship with him? It was like everything that happened that evening was a dream. Sure she had enjoyed the kiss (a lot), but he had kept a cool head and she hadn't. Sometimes she would be thinking about it and then talk to him, and she would be kind of embarrassed.

And then sometimes she would wonder about that feeling that had shot through her when they had kissed, like she was free. This confused her the most, and whenever it came up in her mind, she blocked it out.

One day, they were exiting the restaurant after dinner when the leader of the town ran up to them.

"Shinobi of Konoha! I have just received news of suspicious activity!" he gasped out to them. Obviously he had been looking all over for them. Kakashi glanced around, wondering if anyone had heard.

"Hai. Let us continue this conversation in your house."

XOXOXO

Once they were all seated, the leader took out a scroll.

"I have just received this scroll from a worker at the mine. He informs me that among the workers, four people are traveling and talking to the other workers, asking them how they like their job and how it pays. Then, once they hear just one negative detail, they enlarge it to make it seem largely bios and unfair. After they have gotten the worker to agree with them, they ask him if he would like to work for more pay, and better conditions. If they say yes, then they are included in the group of workers that had also said yes, and are told that in order for that to happen, they would have to do certain things for the new employer. Most men are uneasy, but they are assured that it is nothing bad or illegal. Then they are told of some sort of plan to overthrow me! Shinobi, you must stop this!" The man was almost in hysterics. Kakashi reassuringly nodded.

"Don't worry. It's only a matter of time before they approach us. And once we join the group, we'll find out how it works and make a plan to overthrow it. And if circumstances make out that we must fight, we will give our lives for this mission. Sir, don't worry. Everything will work out." The old man clamed down a bit and smiled.

"Thank you so much," he said.

XOXOXO

In bed that night, Sakura turned to face Kakashi.

"So now the mission will really start, eh?" she said quietly. Kakashi shrugged.

"I guess. Now we have a lead. I don't know where it will lead us, but we'll figure it out. Besides, the Fifth should be sending someone to ask how the mission is going sooner or later. At least we'll have something to tell him. Hey, this mission might even end up taking less than a month." Kakashi closed his eyes, signaling he was ready to sleep.

Sakura didn't let Kakashi know, but her heart was sinking all the way to her feet at his words, for some reason. And, feeling depressed, she fell asleep.

Kakashi didn't let Sakura know, but his heart was sinking even at his own words, for some reason. He was confused. He should be happy the mission was ending; why was he feeling so depressed?

XOXOXO

The next morning the routine was the same. Everyone left for work. Sakura and Ino were worked extra hard that day, because there were a lot of costumers. They were utterly tired by sunset, and trudged across the street and up into the rooms, took showers, and both collapsed on their respective beds.

A door opening awaked Sakura. She opened her eyes and blinked, several times, before focusing on the dirt-covered Kakashi in front of her.

"Yo," he greeted her, and took of his dirty shirt. She yawned and sat up.

"Did you get approached by the people trying to overthrow the leader?" she asked. Kakashi shook his head.

"No, but we know who one of them is, because we were around when he was talking to another guy. And the situation doesn't look good. Most of the workers are joining the rebellion. Only about, I'd say, twenty-five percent aren't. And we have another issue."

"What now?"

"It seems these village people are really curious about us," he said dryly. "We give them more intimacy, and they wonder why they never hear screams of pleasure coming from this room." Sakura gaped.

"Are you kidding me? Now what are we gonna do?"

"Let me take a shower first and we'll talk about it," he said, disappearing behind the bathroom door. Sakura collapsed back on the covers. She couldn't think of one situation that didn't involve sexual contact. Kakashi emerged.

"Do you want to skip dinner?" was the first thing he said. She knew what answer he wanted.

"Sure," she said. He left to tell the others, then came back and got in bed beside Sakura.

"Have you thought about it?" he questioned.

"Yes."

"And?"

"To be honest, I can't think of one situation that doesn't involve sex," she said bluntly. He nodded.

"I know." There was a large break of silence.

"We could just ignore it," she offered, already knowing why they couldn't.

"You know why we can't do that. If we ignore this, they'll suspect we aren't a couple."

"I know."

A pause.

"I told them to go out and explore the mines after dinner, then go straight to bed and we'll talk about it tomorrow." Sakura said nothing. She knew what he was thinking when he said that, and didn't know how to respond. They sat in silence for who knows how long. What was making them both uncomfortable wasn't the fact that they were uncomfortable about the subject, but thinking that the other person was uncomfortable about the subject. Neither knew how the other felt.

Kakashi rolled on his side, facing Sakura, who was lying on her back and turned her head to look at him.

"I need to know how you feel about this. I want you to know that _if _we were to actually do something, we wouldn't to have to actually do sex. All they wanted was screams of pleasure, so…" Sakura didn't answer immediately.

"I'm very nervous, but to be honest, for some reason I'm not embarrassed, like you might think I would be. And…if it's for the mission, then I'm ready to do it. Again, I can't believe I'm saying this, but if you want me to be honest with you, I'm glad it's you and not some other villain that I have to take care of on a seduction mission." She couldn't stop herself from moving her eyes away from him, just a little to the left, so she wasn't looking directly at him. She wanted to know what he thought. She heard him take in breath, getting ready to talk,

"That must have been hard for you to say, Sakura. But thank you. I needed to know the truth." She forced herself to look at him as she talked,

"What do _you _feel about it?" she asked. She needed to know. The suspense was killing her.

"Sakura. You are beautiful, whatever you keep on telling yourself. And kind. And smart. And a damn good kunoichi. And since you were honest with me, I want to be honest with you. I would do this. But, I am uncomfortable about the fact that we're nine years apart. Does that make you uncomfortable?" he said softly. Sakura looked straight into his eyes.

"No," she said clearly. "No, it doesn't in the least bit. Nor does the fact that you were my sensei. It doesn't." Kakashi was silent. Then he spoke.

"This doesn't mean we have to love each other. Nor that we have to be in a relationship. I think, now, that that's actually what's bugging me. We are such good friends. And I don't want that to change between us." Sakura said the first thing that came to mind before she could stop herself.

"Kakashi, you're still friends with people you've kissed before, or done anything beyond that, aren't you?" Kakashi seemed just a little surprised.

"You're right. I am. So this won't change anything between us? Do I have your permission?" he talked in such a low whisper she could barely hear him. She nodded. "I'm only going to use my hand, OK?" he whispered in her ear. She looked into his eyes.

"Take off your mask first," she whispered back. He nodded and peeled it off. They started off with a kiss. Sakura's hands found themselves absorbed in Kakashi's silver hair, and while they were kissing, he pulled her shirt up a little bit and began inching her shorts off. Again, she was feeling light-headed, feeling like it was a dream, and that feeling she was having last time—like she was free—it was coming back. As their tongues sparred, her shorts were all the way off. Kakashi himself was feeling a lot like Sakura, light-headed and not over complete control of his body.

_Wasn't I lecturing her about how this was wrong a few days ago? _Kakashi figured later that had been his last solid thought. From then on his mind was swirling with mixed intentions, desires, and images. What his intuition told him to do, he did, long having abandoned all logic.

Once her underwear was fully off, Sakura couldn't help but feel very exposed, and kind of embarrassed. In response to this feeling she deepened the kiss, hoping it would go away. She felt Kakashi's smooth, but firm hand on her legs, and into her private area. What were these feelings that came coursing through her? She gasped into the kiss and they both took this time to take a few breaths before continuing.

Suddenly Kakashi plunged one finger in her. She broke the kiss, gasping. He circled inside of her, and plunged in and out. She moaned. It felt nothing like when she did it herself.

_Fuck! That feels…so good…_

Kakashi moved down and began to kiss and suck on her neck. She gasped again. The feelings that were coursing throughout her were making her dizzy as well as light-headed. She gave a louder moan. Kakashi bit down on her neck at the same time he added another finger. Sakura almost screamed. Kakashi rubbed his fingers against her, and was starting to make circular motions again.

"Ohhhh!" she thrashed on the bed, feeling very hot. She was breathing hard. "Ka…kashi…oh my God!" A pressure was building up inside of her. She wanted release. The pleasure was so much, and even she could feel the wetness. Her hands swarmed in his hair, pulling at it. Kakashi gritted his teeth. He himself was getting very hard, but he tried to ignore it and kept on.

They were kissing again. She was even higher up in heaven then…

He added a third finger. She screamed. He let her. That was what they needed. She continued screaming, off and on, until the pressure built up so much release came. She finished with a final scream, then closed her eyes, breathing very hard. Kakashi was catching his breath as well. When she opened her eyes, he was placing his mask back on.

"I think that will keep the gossip away for a few days. Damn, Sakura. You scream loud." She blushed.

"That…felt…wow…" she breathed. Kakashi laid down.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"Yeah…thank you, Kakashi. You must…you need it too, don't you?" she finished quietly.

"No, I'm fine, Sakura. Seriously. You needn't worry. Anyway, it's late. We should go to sleep." Sakura got up.

"OK. I'll just change."

When she got out, Kakashi went in to change.

"Good night," she called from the room. Kakashi responded, and Sakura lay down on the bed. It was then when she thought about everything. Had what they done right?

_It was for the sake of the mission. Of course it was. If we hadn't, people would have eventually found out about us. And now everything will be all right._

Sakura had re-assured herself, and she was able to drift off to sleep.

**XOXOXO**

**Thanks for the reviews, BUT I NEED MORE!!!**

**Here's a Kakashi/Sakura moment many of you wanted. I'm still new to this kind of thing, so tell me how I did. REVIEW!**

**Thanks for the constructional criticism. I really try to make it better. **


	9. uneasiness

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**I'm really sorry for all the spelling mistakes out there, I'm writing it in too much of a hurry, so they just pop out. Just bear with me, OK? **

**XOXOXO**

The next morning Sakura felt like she had been hypnotized for days on end and had just woken up. She had had the strangest dream—thinking about it made her blush. Kakashi had come in saying people were complaining from lack of noise in this room, and it all ended with her coming, while screaming, at his hands. What a strange dream…

She opened her eyes. The birds chirped. She was cuddled against him. She could hear his shallow breathing, signaling he was sleeping. When she thought of her dream in greater detail, she realized some of the emotions and feelings she remembered having were _not _dream-like. And slowly, as she put it together piece by piece, she came to the realization that it hadn't been a dream. Since it had dawned upon her slowly, she made no movement from shock, not wanting to wake Kakashi. Instead she closed her eyes and thought about it. It seemed, to her, that once they had been faced with that problem, they had taken it very fast, and their conversation and just how it came about was a blur.

_A kiss…it started with a kiss…_

She remembered, probably most vividly, the particular scenes in which she had screamed, and she could her his voice in her mind as he said,

"_I think, now, that that's actually what's bugging me. We are such good friends. And I don't want that to change between us."_

He thought they were really good friends. _'Such good friends',_ to be exact. This made her smile, and flattered her just a teeny little bit.

Sakura stayed awake until he woke, just listening to his shallow, peaceful breaths, and thinking.

XOXOXO

Their three friends were kind of perturbed with them. They said that "there were no clues at the mine, and why would their be? It's not like the mine is the conspirators' main base or anything." Although they didn't suspect the two of anything, so it was OK. The lady at the front desk gave them a rare smile, and Sakura remembered to blush (out of the eyes of Ino). If she blushed in front of Kiba and Naruto it was OK. They were too thick to notice anything. As they had promised each other, her and Kakashi were no different towards each other than before. They acted their parts in front of people and were friends when together.

They all left for work, once again. This time, when the two got back, they only had to wait about twenty minutes before they were all back. Kakashi, Kiba, and Naruto came straight to their room, where Sakura was doing her nails. Ino heard them in the hallway and joined also.

"Sakura Chan!" Naruto sang as soon as Kakashi shut the door. Sakura rolled her eyes. He did that _every time _he saw her. It was getting not a little, but a lot old. Kiba went on.

"Guess what? The mission is getting somewhere. Someone approached us when we were all eating our lunch," he said, scratching Akamaru behind the ears as he spoke. Kakashi got out a pad, sat down on the bed, and began drawing as he spoke.

"I'm going to draw the two guys that we know of. You know, their faces. Kiba, Naruto, you guys go on." Naruto took up the story.

"So, first he asked if we thought there was any problem with the system. We made sure to feed him with all kinds of complaints, and he instantly let us on about the group. He told us about it, we acted like we were real interested, and then…"

"Then he invited us for dinner at his and three other guys' house. You can imagine who these 'three other guys' are. He said that he was particularly interested in us for the group. You two are coming too; we already told him about you," Kiba finished. Ino grinned.

"Good, something's actually happened. I was beginning to get so _bored_!" Ino said, exhasperated, plopping down on the bed. Sakura said nothing, only smiled. Kakashi soon finished, and stood.

"OK, I don't know about the rest of you, but _I'm _going to take a shower before we go," he said in a bored voice. "So shoo." Kiba smirked.

"Don't worry, we'll leave you to your _privacy_ soon enough. Be patient! Sheesh…" He slouched out, Akamaru at his heels, and Ino and Naruto followed.

XOXOXO

The house they were given directions was quite large, and expensive, but very out, away from the town. It was a good fifteen-minute walk, but the five ran until they were within seeing range. Ino knocked, and a minute later the door flew open to reveal a smirking man, his long black hair tied behind his back in a ponytail.

"Ah, it's the rookie rebels. Welcome. Ah, and I see you brought your escorts." He smirked at the two girls. Kakashi gave an easy chuckle, and glanced at the smiling Sakura who was clinging to his arm.

"This is my beautiful wife and her sister." The man looked directly at her, grinning.

"Nice to meet you. I am Dyn. You two are newlyweds, are you not?" They had taken off their shoes and were currently inside the house, walking down a hallway.

"Just got married a little over two weeks ago," Kakashi answered.

"Tell me, Obito. Why was it that you all are on the run from your clans?"

"Because they refused to accept our love," Kakashi said solemnly. Dyn opened a door and closed it behind them.

"Oh? That's interesting…" The room was like a dining room. There were plush red seats and a table laden with food. Two men were seated, smirking at them all.

_Don't they realize they look so unwelcoming and mean? _Sakura wondered as Kakashi pulled a seat for her. Wait, hadn't Kiba said four guys?

"I am terribly sorry, but one of our friends couldn't come. He was…occupied," said Dyn.

_Occupied with what?_

Sakura just realized she found all of the guys smirking at either her or Ino. Ino, she could tell, was trying to ignore them and was focusing on her plate as if she was deep in thought. Sakura glanced at Kakashi, who was looking at her. Their eyes met for a second, then they looked away. Kakashi had noticed this too. Dyn introduced his friends as Dan and Wan.

_These are all three-letter names. Couldn't their parents come up with more colorful titles?_ Sakura thought, kind of exasperated. She also took note that they were all fit, even though they were probably older than Kakashi.

_It's possible they were once ninja, however they have not been keeping their bodies as fit as a normal ninja, so they probably work for no nation are missing nin…_

At least one guy was smirking at her or Ino throughout the whole meal. It made her feel so uncomfortable. When she shifted once, she felt Kakashi's hand on her thigh, as if calming her down. She made her smile return, making sure to wipe out all uneasiness from her expression. Soon the conversation changed to where they were staying. It was near the end of their stay.

"You know, Obito. You all should really stay with us. I must say, we are very interested in you five for our group. We are thinking of making the three of you potential leaders of the group, right under us in status, of course. Are you interested?" Kakashi nodded eagerly, along with Kiba and Naruto.

"Yes, sir! Thank you very much!" Kakashi said cheerfully. Kiba and Naruto backed him up with their eagerness, and Sakura and Ino offered them their wide smiles. Wan laughed loudly.

"So it's settled! By tomorrow, you should all be able to head out of the inn and into our humble home. It was very…interesting to be able to speak with you." They all bowed and left. Of course, they were quiet until they reached the inn and were in their rooms. Kakashi told the others quietly they would talk tomorrow. Kakashi closed the door behind him and turned to face Sakura.

"Sakura, I have a bad feeling about this. The way they looked at you and Ino…I think that they aren't finished with you two, in some way." Sakura shivered.

"I know…it made me feel so uneasy, and…weird, having them look at me like that. I'm not exactly scared, because I know I can protect myself, but it's going to be hard living in the same house as those stares…" Kakashi had changed and draped an arm around Sakura when she laid down.

"Don't worry, Sakura," he whispered, half-asleep. "I'll protect you…"

XOXOXO

**Ah, fluff! Well, not really, since I haven't made them realize their love for each other yet…but wasn't that kind of sweet?**

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**Thank you! **


	10. how?

**Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

And so the next morning everyone was in a rush to wake up early and pack whatever they could before work. Then, when everyone came back from work, they hurriedly finished the packing.

Sakura and Ino separated at their rooms. Without even taking a shower, she began finding and piling stuff in her and Kakashi's bag. As she picked up a shirt of Kakashi's that had been strewn around the room, she did a double take and saw the condoms and lubricant were underneath. She took a deep breath. Should she take them? But then why would she? Of course, she could just leave them in the room, but that would be a waste of both money and something useful in case…

What the hell?!? Did she seriously think it would come down to that?

_That night has given you ideas, Sakura, _she said, shaking her head, and, despite what she was thinking and feeling, she put them at the bottom of her bag without another thought.

XOXOXO

When the boys came back, they hurriedly showered, packed anything else, checked out, and began making their way towards the house. Once there, someone took their bags and they were introduced to the dining room. Dan gave a hearty laugh, which sounded like a maniac laughing.

"Nice to see you! So glad you all could come! Sit down, sit down! From now on, we'll all eat here for breakfast and dinner. Lunch, of course, will be at the mines. I wonder…" Sakura groaned inwardly as he predictably turned to smirk at her. "Maybe these lovely ladies of yours will pack better lunches than we ever were able to, eh?" Sakura could only bring herself to smile, although she felt like spitting on his face. Kakashi read her feelings, and placed a hand on her thigh, like yesterday, soothing her, calming her down. She took a deep breath and concentrated on her food, kind of amazed how Kakashi could calm her down like that as if it was nothing when no one else, barely even Tsunade, could.

Their fourth accomplice again did not show up for dinner; Dyn told them this time that he was barely ever home; he loved drinking and was usually at the village pub. Sakura thought personally,

_Probably looking for a whore for the night. _But showed nothing that indicated what she was thinking on her face.

After dinner Dan escorted them to their room. He was walking beside Ino, asking her questions about herself. Kiba was on his other side glaring at him behind his back. Naruto was behind him glaring at him behind his back. Kakashi was beside Sakura, one hand linked with hers and the other holding up his _Icha Icha _novel. Sakura rolled her eyes. He was reading that pervy book at a time like _this_? Kakashi turned the page. She didn't say anything, just walked quietly. Dan stopped at one room after they had gone up a flight of stairs and a little way down a hallway. He smirked at Ino, then turned around and smirked at Kiba.

"You two are about to get married, are you not?" he asked. Kiba answered, and he was just slightly twitching, trying to act nonchalant and not glaring.

"We should wed as soon as we get settled," he said shortly, still trying very hard to smile. Dan's smirk widened. Well, seeing as you two are about to get married, we thought we would do you a favor. I mean, you two are almost married, and certainly act like it. So why not just start assuming you are already. We prepared this room for you two, and of course your dog as well." He pushed open the door. Kiba and Ino, kind of surprised, barely caught themselves in time to smile and say thank you like they meant it. Dan just waved it away and shut the doors behind them, then saw Sakura and winked at her. She painfully, oh yes _very _painfully, smiled. They went on. Naruto got his own room, and finally they were dropped off inside their room, an ornate and nice room with a quite large bed and a huge window covered by a curtain. Their stuff was already inside the room.

"Don't be surprised if your bag looks like its been searched through or something," muttered Kakashi. She nodded. "And I can't believe he did that, flirt with Ino like that and then give them a room to themselves even though they aren't married." Sakura sighed, agreed with him, and pushed away the curtain to reveal a stunning view of the starlit sky. She smiled at its beauty and sat on the windowsill to gaze at the sky. Kakashi came to lean on the windowsill and look up with her, his hands resting on her shoulders. She cherished that peaceful moment she shared with Kakashi in which all she saw was the magnificent masterpiece above them and felt so happy it surprised her.

"It annoys me too," she murmured to him after a while. "How they do stuff like that like they think we don't notice. And it takes a blow at my pride, but…" she looked up at him with a smile. "…I know you will protect me, and I feel safer than ever." Even in the dark, and even though most of his face was covered up, she could tell he was surprised for a moment before he quickly recovered and gave is one-eye smile, one hand coming to rest behind the back of his head. She giggled at the familiar pose. He looked confused at her giggle.

"Kakashi, I'm going to change, OK?" she said, and giggled at his confused expression. She walked away, and Kakashi was left standing there.

_What…what just happened? That feeling I just experienced, that alien feeling…how does she do this to me?_

Sakura closed the door behind her and slid down it, taking in a deep breath.

_How does he do this to me?_

XOXOXO

**Hi all of you out there! I know, I know, short chappie, but I wanted to end it there, so I did.**

**I NEED more REVIEWS! How was this chapter? TELLME!! **

**Sorry it took longer than usual for this one; my computer's internet won't come on for some reason so I had to use my sister's.**


	11. Ino finds someone

**Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

Sakura opened the door to the bathroom, finished changing. Kakashi was lying on the bed. She almost gaped when she saw him. He had taken off his mask again. Why? Oh man…he was so handsome, and with that lost look in his eye, Sakura just wanted to…

"Sakura?" Kakashi lifted his head a little. Well, that lost look in his eye was gone...

"Oh, um…err, you took off your mask?" she said, caught staring at him and not knowing what to say.

"Well, I was thinking it gets pretty hot underneath there, I mean, there's sweat where it covers my face every time I take it off to shower, and so I thought I would take it off at night. I mean, you've already seen my face, what—twice, haven't you?" Sakura blushed as she remembered those instances in which she had seen his face and what followed, and was really glad for the darkness of night at that moment.

"Err, yeah, I guess. I mean, yeah. I have," she said, cursing herself for sounding so out-of-place. He nodded and slumped back on the bed. He had already changed and taken off his shirt so was ready to sleep. Sakura got under the covers, trying to act normal, and fell asleep.

XOXOXO

For the third time that night, Kakashi was awakened for some reason. The first was that Sakura had moved against him, restless that night for some reason, and the second time had made him blush. Again it was Sakura moving around, and when he had tried to comfort her and calm her down by wrapping an arm around her, she had groaned a little. Then it turned into a moan, and…

"_Kakashi…" _she had moaned again. This was his cue to blush. And after he had calmed down, he had somehow managed to go back to sleep. But this time, it wasn't Sakura. This time, he could hear the voices of two certain people that were in a room two doors down. Even though a room (Naruto's) was in between the two rooms, he still heard a loud, _very _loud moan that signified in every single way pleasure and arousal.

"_Kibaa-aa_." This was followed with _"ohh"_sand "_ahh_"s. Then a loud _"shhhh!" _and some other words he couldn't hear.

_Oh my God! What the fuck are those two playing at? _He thought, surprised out of his wits. _No, they aren't playing!_ _Kiba_ and _Ino_ of ALL people! Those fools! It was considered bad around 70 percent of this area to do that before they were married. Kakashi was exasperated, too shocked to move. For one thing, he was surprised they would risk the mission, and for another, most of the reason he was frozen in shock: KIBA AND INO HAD HOOKED UP? When had this happened? How could he have failed to realize?

Suddenly he felt Sakura snuggle up to him tighter. He looked down at her, at once calmed by her beauty and his previous feelings of sleepiness sinking in again…Kiba and Ino could wait for tomorrow…it would do no good if he went barging in now…that would risk their cover even more…and he finally fell into a sleep that would not dwindle until he was woken by Sakura the next morning.

XOXOXO

Kakashi was dreaming about a very certain person. It was Sakura, of course. She was sitting under a tree, laughing that beautiful laugh, and admiring the flowers she had just picked. He was viewing the dream in the perspective from the tree. He felt so at peace and happy watching her enjoy herself in such a simple way, surrounded by such beautiful flowers that only magnified the beauty radiating from Sakura herself. Then, suddenly, she looked up, smiling, right at him.

"_Kakashi?_" For some reason, he did not answer, although he so wanted too…however, he was not in control of the dream, now was he? _"Kakashi! Kaa-Kaaaa-shiii! Kakashi…_KAKASHI!" he jerked awake to see Sakura standing above him, already dressed and smelling of strawberries and cleanliness. He wanted to close his eyes and inhale this scent, but Sakura wouldn't let him. She went on, "Kakashi! Finally! I've never seen you in such a deep sleep! I've been trying to get you up for five minutes! We should get down if you want to see those dirty men in time for breakfast." She had lowered her voice to a whisper in the middle of her sentence, and then giggled at her little joke. Kakashi just stared at her dumbly, at her giggle, and a flashback of last night came to him, when she had moaned his name, and along that the other…unwelcome memory. He suddenly jumped out of the bed.

"Kiba! Ino! Where are they?" he questioned her. Sakura had to stop herself from examining his so nicely toned chest and abs in the bright sunlight streaming from the window and heard herself answer,

"They must be eating breakfast right now, why?" Kakashi was already walking to the bathroom.

"I heard them caught up in each other last night." The door slammed behind him. Sakura gaped. Did he just say what she thought he said? Now, if he had said, 'caught up _with _each other' she would have had an inkling to what he had meant and would have questioned him immediately. But, 'caught up _in _each other' told her all she needed to know, and, knowing what she did, she gaped at the closed bathroom door. She heard a shower start. She knocked on the door and called to him,

"Hurry up Kakashi, we have to get down there _now_!" Kakashi's voice was muffled as he responded,

"Hold on, Sakura, I'll be right out, OK?" Sakura turned and plopped on the bed.

_Oh my God…and Ino was laughing at ME for my role in this mission…she was accusing ME of trying to get into Kakashi's pants when she herself…? OMG, OMG! I have to get down there and scream at her, then laugh at her!_

Sakura stopped her train of thought at that last one. Even though she hated it, she realized she couldn't scream and then laugh at Ino for what she had done…at least not at breakfast, in front of everyone. But when they left for work, oh, she was going to get it.

Sakura wondered if the pervy men had heard Kiba and Ino. Kakashi hearing was no surprise. Like he had demonstrated on several occasions, he had better senses of his surroundings than most did. She grew even more anxious, and stood up to bang up on the door, but Kakashi opened it at her raised fist, showered and all, and shoved a shirt over what Sakura saw from one glance was glistening, not completely dried. She snapped her eyes upwards as Kakashi turned to pick up his mask and situate it on. She hoped he hadn't noticed that one glance, and followed him out the room and downstairs to the dining room.

XOXOXO

Down in the dining room, they saw that Kiba, Ino, and Wan and Dan were already down. Naruto, Dyn, and possibly that fourth guy were still not there. Kiba and Ino were both blushing, probably from something either Dan or Wan had said, because the two were smirking smugly. Sakura made sure to sit by Ino and Kakashi sat by her. Sakura started off with a bright smile towards everyone, then began piling food on her plate cheerfully. However, her foot was currently maneuvering itself, and, soon, Ino gave a small gasp that Sakura could only hear, as Sakura had stomped on her foot. Ino gave her a flash glare before returning her smile and returning to her food. Sakura craned her neck and almost puked when she saw Kiba and Ino were holding hands.

Sakura tried to embarrass Ino and shame her, but Ino held her ground proudly and deflected Sakura's attacks right back at her:

"Ino Yamanaka! Just a few days ago you were lecturing _me _about Kakashi, and today I find out that you and Kiba are having a secret relationship? Involving _sex_?" Ino just glared at Sakura.

"What we do is none of your business, forehead-girl. I haven't asked you much about Kakashi since that day, so why are you bothering me? Just leave me alone!" Sakura was shocked at such an open insult like that. Her and Ino fought a _lot _and had been rivals for everything for years, but Sakura always knew they maintained a somewhat weird, but existing, friendship. And just then Ino had spoken to her in a way friends wouldn't speak to other friends. Sakura didn't bring up the subject again.

_Damn Ino. I was gonna have a little fun._

On their walk back to the house, Sakura did bring up the subject, but not in a teasing way. Her and Ino, had, over the course of the day, become friends in that weird way just like before, and their old relationship was again intact just like it had been.

"So, Ino? I'm not trying to tease you or anything, but are you and Kiba officially a couple—you know, even outside the mission?" she questioned. Ino was staring up at the sky, and slowly she gave a small smile directed upwards.

"Well, I guess—yeah. I've had a lot of boyfriends, but I…" Ino took a deep breath and looked at Sakura. "…I think that…Kiba is the one." Sakura didn't respond immediately. Her and Ino's eyes connected, then they both looked away.

"Well…congratulations, Ino, for finding someone," she said finally, then gave her friend a smile. "I really am happy for you guys." Ino grinned at her back, instantly bringing back the lightness in the conversation.

"Oh my God, and he's amazing in bed, too…" Sakura screeched, and then closed her eyes, and placed her hands over her ears and shook around like she was being tormented.

"OK, Ino! That was taking it a LITTLE too far! Eww! Weird mental image! DID…NOT…NEED…THAT…MUCH…INFO!" she then broke out laughing along with her friend. She was truly happy for Ino, but a little jealous as well. Ino was so happy, and she thought Kiba was 'the one'. It reminded her of a certain silver-haired joinin that invaded her thoughts WAY too much nowadays for her personal comfort.

XOXOXO

**Sorry guys if that Ino/Kiba pairing was a little out of the blue and not favorable towards some, but I needed it for the storyline that I'm heading for. I have it all worked out in my head; now I've somehow gotta get it on paper!**

**REVIEW! Thanks!**


	12. meeting and hating Han

**Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

That night at dinner they finally met the fourth accomplice. But it wasn't like they enjoyed the meeting. He just happened to be Dyn's older brother, and was gross, in Sakura's opinion, even more so than the others. When Dyn met them at the door, he was smirking and whispered that his older brother Han was just a little different from the rest of them, and he was apologizing ahead of time for any offensive behavior he might display.

_ARRGHH! Now what? An even more pervy and gross guy to add to the list of people here I want to kill?_

But of course she acted cheerful and innocent and surprised that any brother of Dyn would act rudely. Ha. Yeah right.

_Don't make me laugh._

And, when she saw Han, the farthest thing from her mind was laughing. He had a huge nose, eyebrows even bushier than Lee's, and a fat lower lip surrounded by stubble that should have been shaved but wasn't. What she _wanted _to do when she first saw him was lean over and hurl all over him. But she didn't, and Ino didn't, as they took their seats, hoping to their God he wouldn't sit by them, as he had been standing when they entered. But, with a disgusting smirk, a smirk that irked her more, if possible, than the other three men's', he sat directly across from Sakura, across-from-and-to-the-side-to Ino. Kakashi and the boys hadn't arrived yet with Dan and Wan, so she was feeling vulnerable, and Ino probably was too judging with her foot interlocked with Sakura's, emphasizing her uncomfortable state. Han spoke.

"So might you two beautiful ladies have names? My dear brother only introduced you two as a fiancé of one and a wife of another." He let out a laugh as if he had said some king of joke. Sakura just smiled; she definitely could not bring herself to laugh, and the same was with Ino.

"Oh, um, I'm Rai, Han-san, and she's, um, Maduri." Han's gaze lingered on Sakura. Under the table, Ino had noticed and her foot which was wrapped around Sakura's leg tightened its hold.

"Maduri-chan, how long have you been married to…oh, what was his name? Ah, yes, Kakashi-kun." Sakura' stomach began to coil, and not in a good way.

"We have been married a little over two weeks, Han-san," she said with fake shyness, lowering her gaze to her plate. She instinctively saw in the corner of her eye his eyebrow quirking.

"Newlyweds, eh? So you two must be in that gushy stage where you can't get enough of each other—in and out of the bedroom." He let out another booming laugh. Sakura fought to keep her anger in check.

_Who the fuck does he think he is? I can't believe he just SAID that…_

But she thought of how Hinata used to act when she had been shy and mimicked that, supplying an excuse for her lack of response, and she made sure to blush. Just then, she was saved by the door opening and Kakashi, Kiba, and Naruto entering, with Dan, Wan, and Ryn trailing behind with the usual smirk. When Kakashi entered, he inwardly quirked an eyebrow. Han was smirking very smugly at Sakura, who was sitting across from him—

_Probably not of her choosing._

—And pretending to blush and act shy.

_Damn him, judging from what I've gathered about him so far, he probably made a smart-ass comment about something hinting sex or something like that…I was probably mentioned…and now Sakura's having to pretend to act shy, when she's probably burning to punch him in the face. If this wasn't a mission and he said something rude to Sakura, I would have probably felt just a teeny weeny bit sorry for him._

Kakashi introduced himself to Han from the door, who stood and made his way to the entering group to exchange bows. Sakura had looked up and relief was etched over her face. When they were done introducing themselves, and Han had moved on to Kiba and Naruto, Kakashi walked over to Sakura, kissed the top of her head, sat down, and caressed her hand in his.

"Did he say something?" he whispered. Sakura discreetly glanced at the big disgusting jerk and then rolled her eyes, afterwards giving a slight nod. Kakashi smiled as everyone seated themselves, knowing how mad Sakura had probably been, and glad she looked calmed down.

During the meal, Sakura really realized the full extent of how twisted Han was, and also fully understood why Ryn had felt the need to apologize beforehand. But no matter how many suggestive comments he made to her (he seemed to be favoring her over Ino, lucky her), Kakashi's usual calming hand on her thigh kept her anger in check and she was able to act well enough. Kakashi, though, she could tell, was getting pretty irked himself at Han's open flirting and rude comments. Although he said nothing and didn't spare one glare, or cough, or clenched fist, she felt him tense up whenever Han happened to direct his attention towards her. She figured his pride was taking a blowing at, having his wife being openly hit on in front of him.

Once the long and very maddening dinner was finally over, Kakashi led them to their room rather hastily, his arm around her waist as they went up the flight of stairs rather faster than normal and down the hallway before reaching their door and going in before closing it firmly behind them. Kakashi was breathing hard, trying not to scream out. Most of the reason he was mad was because of Han, but a small part of it was him being mad at himself for being mad that Han had been hitting on Sakura. Why should he care? He knew Sakura could take care of herself, and it wasn't like Han had openly asked Sakura to come to bed with him. Sakura had a reassuring hand on his arm. She was glaring at nothing in particular.

"It made you mad too?" she asked quietly. Kakashi took and deep breath and calmed down.

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "It's like I have no control over it, that's why I'm mad." This was not the reason he was mad, but he used it as an excuse and she nodded, understanding.

"Don't worry," she said to him as they sat down on the bed. "Soon enough we'll kick their asses and send them and their crazy schemes to hell, right?" she was smiling. Kakashi smiled back at her as he started taking his mask off. He felt better.

"Exactly," he responded, feeling warm inside. They got ready for bed and fell asleep soon.

XOXOXO

They went on for a week and a half, tolerating somehow living in that house, and gradually accumulating more information and becoming more involved in the taking over of the village and surrounding villages. Total, there were 96 fit men that joined with the mutiny, and they were divided into four groups of 24 each, led by group leaders Wan, Kakashi, Kiba and Naruto. Dan, Dyn, and Han were at the top, controlling everything. Their village sent Shikamaru when Ino and Sakura were working. They filled him in on everything, and he was very surprised at Ino and Kiba getting together. He came back a week later telling them the Hokage said to keep going along with the flow until she sent back-up. They had told her most of the rebellious men were not bad-hearted, but had been tricked, but she said that they were going to send back-up in a while when they got more information just to be safe. So they went along, and a week after a month's anniversary of the mission, something happened.

XOXOXO

**Hiya everyone out there! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but that just tells you to review, put this on your story alert list, and hang on until I submit the next chapter. Oh, and in case you happened to skip over that part of the sentence….**

**REVIEW! **


	13. read!

**Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

It was a Sunday, so nobody had work. These were the days Sakura hated and loved the most. Hated, because she had to put up with the four nasty men all day, and loved because she got to spend more time with her friends Naruto, Kiba, and…cough…Kakashi.

It was after the lunch meal, she was roaming the nice house by herself and deep in thought, internally having a fit over how bold Han had been today. He had even ventured as far to reach across the table and touch her hand, just slightly, and she had pulled away in a flash, furious but instead, for the sake of the mission, blushing red. When Han smirked and turned to talk to his brother, she had turned to look at Kakashi and saw he was glaring at the older man. He shifted, saw Sakura had seen, and covered her hand with his protectively. As Sakura's mind ran over that part of the meal, she was furious with herself to find herself blushing, and this time for real! Sakura _never _blushed, unless she was acting in front of those nasty men.

Sakura turned at a corner, went a little ways, and then slid down the wall, still deep in thought and nibbling on her lower lip. She couldn't hide it from herself any longer. She knew she had feelings for Kakashi. But what exactly were those feelings and how deep did they run? She heard and felt her heart beating in her throat. Why did just the thought of him do that to her? And his gorgeous face, and his rowdy but attractive silver hair, and his oh-so fit and toned chest that made her mouth water sometimes when she woke up and she was snuggled against it. That first kiss they had shared almost a month ago, and that other…incident as well. She unknowingly blushed harder at the thought of that night.

And even though Kakashi probably was either afraid to admit it, thinking that she wouldn't return his feelings, or believed that a relationship would interfere with their mission and get them sidetracked, she knew that he must feel at least some sort of attraction towards her too: his trust in her to spill out his whole life to her, the way he draped an arm around her at nights, how he was comfortable with her enough to take off his mask every night, and usually when they were by themselves in their room on Sundays too, and that protective nature of his that activated whenever Han did something…

And then, as if the Devil was hearing her thoughts, she heard footsteps, and stood up. And who else would round the corner but—Han.

XOXOXO

She didn't have any time to think or run away. He spotted her as soon as she spotted him. His face broke out into that signature gross smirk. He began walking towards her. She gave a hesitant step back, not knowing what to do, and felt the wall.

"Ah, my little Maduri, so here you are. I've been searching for you everywhere! You weren't with your hubby, nor with your sister! You haven't been hiding from me, have you?" he let out a laugh. Sakura felt like disappearing. What should she do, what should she do? She was cornered, and in order to get out of this predicament, she would have to pass Han, which she wasn't keen on doing either. So she, on impulse and not knowing what to do, acted shy like she always did. This turned out not to be a good idea. He took more steps toward her until he was standing right in front of her.

"Your shyness always entrances me, my little Maduri. You have me under a spell." He raised his hands on either side of her and leaned in so their noses were almost touching. "Tell me, my little tulip, why aren't you with your perfect little husband? Oh, I think I know the answer. Why aren't there any ever screams coming from your room rather than your dear little sister's? Gotten in a little argument with your husband, have we? And it hasn't even been two months!" his breath was putrid; Sakura was on the verge of fainting. She forgot she was a ninja, she forgot the normal her would never let this happen to her. After such a long time of playing it as a soft, docile woman, she was getting softer and forgetting who she was. But one thing was for sure. She hated what was happening. She just was speechless and at the moment didn't know what to do. Han was right in front of her, in all his glorified ugliness. With just one little movement he could kiss her. She was terrified. Han went on,

"Come with me, beautiful, and I shall show you a pleasure you would never had dreamed of. I'll show you what a real man can do. It all lays beyond that door, which is my bedroom. We can find heaven in my bed. We can…" He was cut off, because Sakura, disgusted beyond belief, gave a cry out and pushed him away with all her strength. He gave a yelp and fell into the wall. He was stuck there, hanging there. He tried to get out, but the effort was meaningless, she had pushed him so hard. She was breathing hard, shaking. How could she have let this happen to her? Where had what she was gone? She looked at her hands and remembered. Then she rose her fist and pummeled it into his stomach. He gasped and then choked, spitting out a small amount of blood. Then Sakura ran without saying another word.

She ran until she reached her and Kakashi's room, and thrust open the door. Kakashi was lounging on the bed, his mask off, reading his _Icha Icha _novel. He looked up when she entered.

"Ah, Sakura, there you…" he trailed off when he saw her expression, and immediately jumped up. "Sakura what's wrong? What happened? Sakura, _what happened to you_?" He was freaking out. He led Sakura to sit on the bed, and gave her water. He knelt in front of her as she drank, and when she finished, she calmed down and poured everything that had happened out to him, and then sobbed on his shoulder.

"Kakashi…I…don't…know what…happened to me….I…froze up…and…now…now I feel so _dirty_!" she sobbed some more. Kakashi had said nothing, but now stood up suddenly, taking away her headrest. "Ka—Kakashi?" she inquired, her face tear-stained. He looked down at her with genuine concern."

"Sakura, you stay here. I'll be right back," he said shakily. Sakura jumped up. He was already at the door. She hugged his waist from behind, stopping him.

"What—what are you thinking of doing?!?" she cried out. He said through gritted teeth.

"Setting that bastard straight. When I'm done with him, Sakura, he'll have been to hell and back. I can't believe he did that to you, the disgusting old ass. Don't worry…"

"NO!" Sakura screamed. Kakashi stopped, and looked at her inquiringly. "Kakashi—no! I already set him straight, you can't, you can't!" Kakashi turned in her arms, facing her. He captured his hands with hers.

"Sakura, I understand. But _no one _messes with…"

"Kakashi, for the sake of the mission! You can't!"

"To hell with the mission! I won't let him get away with it!" He was as mad as Sakura had ever seen him. His eyes were wide and dangerous, and he was getting crazy with anger.

"Kakashi, what are you trying to prove? That nobody touches your property and gets away with it? I've already told you, you can't, and I've told you why! Why aren't you listening?!?!" For some unknown reason, know Sakura was mad at Kakashi. His protective nature was now getting her mad. It was making him unreasonable. Kakashi looked hurt.

"Sakura, I _never_…"

"Then promise me you won't do anything." There was a pause.

"I promise," he said quietly. There was silence. They stood there, their hands entwined and between them, looking into each other's eyes. Sakura looked worried, her brow was creased, and her cheeks still had tear stains. Kakashi, without thinking, reached up and wiped them away. Sakura glanced at the hand with surprise, and then continued staring into Kakashi's endless orbs that amazed her. Kakashi leaned in, and said in a whisper,

"Sakura, I would never, _never_, think of you as my property. You…you mean too much to me." There was silence once more. Kakashi's hand was still cupping her cheek. She looked up, mesmerized and lost for words, too filled with emotion to say anything. Then she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. His eyes grew wide at the caring gesture. Sakura drew back just enough to look up into his eyes. They stood like that for what seemed like eternity. Kakashi's heart was beating so hard he felt like he could have a heart attack at any given moment. His lips twitched. He noticed her pink and full lips, and her beautiful and fragile features.

_I want to kiss her…but I don't know if I should. Something is holding me back…but it feels so right…_

_Just shut up and do it, you scaredy-cat. What the fuck is your problem? You can't even kiss her? Oh, what has the world come to…?_

_Oh shut up. What if she doesn't kiss back and then hates me forever? What if I start to love her, and…_

_Stupid ass. You already love her._

And without another thought, he, without warning, leaned in and kissed her.

Sakura welcomed the kiss. Inside she had been itching for him to do it for a while. She roamed his hair with her hands. His hands came to rest on her waists, and he gave a little squeeze. Unlike previous times, both fully knew what was happening and were thinking straight. This was what they wanted. And so they went on.

Their tongues sparred. Their breath mingled together. Their lips caressed each other's. They were both in heaven. Kakashi lifted Sakura up a little, their lips still glued together. He carried her to the bed, laid her down, and gently crawled on top of her. The kiss continued.

Sakura felt herself take off Kakashi's vest. He obliged, and then they both kicked off their shoes. He peeled of his shirt while Sakura peeled off hers. His hands came to rest behind her back, fingering her bra strap.

"Sakura," he whispered huskily in her ear. "Are you sure you want this?" His hot breath on her neck, cheek and ear made her shiver. She turned to give him a soft kiss. She gave a slight moan and nodded. Her breath bean to come up faster.

"Yes, Kashi," she whispered back. Kakashi gave her a grin at the new nickname and with a tug, unclipped the bra. He lifted it off while kissing Sakura, knowing that she might get a little embarrassed at first from the exposure. Sakura moaned into the kiss, and Kakashi broke it to examine her in awe. Her breasts weren't huge, but normal-sized and beautiful. He rose his hand to caress one while he began kissing, licking and sucking her neck. She moaned again. He slowly made his way down. Sakura knew what was about to come and moaned once more when it did. He took one in his mouth fully and began applying his ministrations on it. She was breathing fast and hard. "Oh…oh..._ohhh….Kashi!" _she gave her loudest moan yet. Kakashi switched to the other breast and did the same thing. He was already in total control of her every whimper and moan.

Kakashi moved down, licking, biting, and sucking as he went. He circled her belly button with his tongue, smirking. Then he leaned up and began kissing her again as he took off her skirt and shorts, and finally her underwear. Braking the kiss, he returned to the lower stomach area and inched his way closer and closer. He hovered over the area before suddenly plunging his tongue inside. She gave a small scream, definitely not her loudest possible one. He found her nub and circled and teased it with his tongue, enjoying the aroma of her scent and the little squeals she kept letting out. Then he poked his tongue into her, eliciting another scream of pleasure. He moved deeper in, and then drew out. _In, out, in, out…_She was so _tight, _even around his tongue. She continued screaming, and after three minutes, he felt the muscles contract around his tongue and a stream of liquid come gushing right into his open mouth. He cleaned it up, and moved up for a kiss...

The door burst open, presenting a Naruto who was trying to be dragged away by Ino and Kiba. He fainted.

"_Naruto_! We said leave them alone! Oh, sorry guys!" Ino said to the unconscious figure. She closed the door again and they heard sounds of Naruto being dragged away. Kakashi laid down beside Sakura. She leaned in and kissed him, not realizing until they were already passionately into it that she was tasting her own juices. Once they were out of air, they pulled away.

"Well, it looks like they know now," he said to her quietly. Sakura gave a mischievous grin and shrugged.

"They were going to find out sooner or later, right?" She cuddled up to him. There was just a moment of silence before she went on in a whisper, "Kashi that was amazing. Thank you." Kakashi kissed her head.

"Anything for you, Sakura," he whispered back. Another pause.

"I know I've loved you for a while now, Kashi. I think ever since that first kiss." Kakashi nodded.

"Me too. I was…scared, though. And I didn't love you then nearly as much as now."

"Scared of what?"

"I think…scared of our age difference," he admitted grudgingly. "But now that doesn't matter to me, as long as I have you." Sakura kissed his chest.

"Kakashi, I love you," she said in a whisper he barely heard.

"I love you too, Sakura." They stayed in content silence for a few minutes. Then Sakura spoke again.

"Kashi, is there…more?" she pulled back a little to look into his face.

"Yes. I could show you…if you want me too, Sakura." Sakura gave a nod.

"Please?"

"Of course. Are you ready again?" he asked.

"Yes. I'm ready." Kakashi hoisted himself so that he was positioned on top of her again.

"This is going to hurt a little bit, Sakura. But it'll feel better, I promise," he said, beginning to take off his sweat pants…

XOXOXO

**I thought I would stop it there cause it was starting to get way longer than usual. But don't worry, it'll continue right from there next chappie! So review and keep checking back!**

**That was just my second time writing a scene like that, and I think this is much better than the last, but TELL ME! REVIEW!**


	14. in love

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto.**

"_Kakashi, I love you," she said in a whisper he barely heard._

"_I love you too, Sakura." They stayed in content silence for a few minutes. Then Sakura spoke again._

"_Kashi, is there…more?" she pulled back a little to look into his face._

"_Yes. I could show you…if you want me too, Sakura." Sakura gave a nod._

"_Please?"_

"_Of course. Are you ready again?" he asked._

"_Yes. I'm ready." Kakashi hoisted himself so that he was positioned on top of her again._

"_This is going to hurt a little bit, Sakura. But it'll feel better, I promise," he said, beginning to take off his sweat pants…_

XOXOXO

Once they were fully off, he then took off his boxers and Sakura saw all of him. She blushed. He was so _big_…was all that supposed to fit in her? Again they started with a kiss to build the passion up. Sakura felt it rubbing on the area right above her thighs and below her stomach, and gave a slight shiver, feeling a little ticklish. She felt Kakashi's hands on her thighs, urging them slightly to move a little farther out. She readily complied, absorbing herself in the kiss, only the kiss. She was a little scared. Kakashi felt this and whispered,

"Don't worry, Sakura, I'll be gentle. Trust me, Sakura. I love you." He captured her lips in a brief kiss, then withdrew.

He loomed over her. "Ready?" he whispered. She closed her eyes and nodded, her hands finding themselves entangled in his hair. He slowly entered her, clenching his teeth. Sakura hissed. It was painful. He gently moved out, and then back in. Sakura was on the verge of crying. Kakashi felt Sakura's muscles contract and squeeze against him, not used to something so big and painfully trying to adjust to him. Sakura's eyes were closed painfully, occasionally making a small squeak of pain. Slowly, after about four or five minutes that seemed to last forever, the crease on her brow started to loosen. The pain was slowly, but surely, being replaced by a…new feeling. And it felt _good._ Once the pain was fully gone, she opened her eyes. Kakashi was on the verge of breaking, trying to be gentle for her sake. She met eyes with him.

"You can go faster," she breathed.

"Are you…sure?" he let out. She nodded, and leaned up to kiss him. Assured, Kakashi increased his pace. Sakura gasped.

"Oh…my…God…Kashi…"

Kakashi groaned. Sakura followed up with an even louder one. Kakashi quickened the pace even more. Sakura screamed his name. Her screams were making him even more turned on, and he started ramming into her, going as fast as he possible could. Sakura cried out again. The pleasure coursing through her was immeasurable and un-heard of, at least to her. Kakashi needed release badly, but wasn't going to come before Sakura, so he kept a rein on himself, pushing himself to the limits. Finally, he felt her muscles begin to squeeze around him.

The pleasure built up to a peak, and she reached her climax, giving a final scream before coming down to Earth. Kakashi let out his own stream of fluids, and felt his knees weaken beneath him. He took a hold of Sakura and rolled, taking her with him, not quite ready to pull out. Sakura's eyes were still closed, still trying to return her breathing to normal. She opened her eyes and slowly pulled off of him before plopping down beside him. He raised a hand and brushed away some hair threatening his view of her beautiful face. Then silently, he gazed upon her, taking note of the setting sun behind her that magnified her beauty even more with its soft yellow, orange, and pink rays. Sakura leaned in so their noses were touching. She was very tired, but kept awake for the time being. Kakashi noticed this. He planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Sleep, Sakura. You must be tired." Sakura made to give a nod, but her eyes closed before she could give a proper one. Kakashi, like always, draped an arm around her and fell asleep himself.

XOXOXO 

They woke around dawn, having slept so early the day before. After showering, they changed: Sakura into nothing but underwear and a large shirt, and Kakashi with nothing but boxers. Then they sat on the bed, leaning on the headboard, Sakura in Kakashi's lap. They talked, and occasionally Sakura would lean back and Kakashi would twist his head slightly and they would have a make-out session, but both knew there wasn't enough time for anything beyond that. Once the sun was high enough up into the sky, they dressed, Kakashi put on his mask, and they, with hands linked, made their way down to breakfast, a real blush eventually developing on her cheeks when she thought of what everyone would say. Kakashi noticed this and they paused at the door. He gave a sideways grin at her, squeezed her hand, and they entered.

All three of their friends were there, but for some reason not one nasty perverted guy was present for breakfast yet. She turned towards her three friends. Ino was grinning at them, hand in hand with Kiba, who was as well, and Naruto had his arms crossed, frowning just slightly and eyeing the two of them. They took their seats, Sakura by Ino and Kakashi by Naruto, unfortunately. Naruto immediately turned his scrutinizing upon him, who acted like nothing was happening, although sneakily scooted closer to Sakura, trying to get as far as way from Naruto as was possible without actually standing up and moving to another seat. Sakura was just glad to see Naruto wasn't glaring at them; he just seemed to be inspecting them, like he was evaluating them out in his mind and deciding whether or not to accept their relationship or not. Sakura snuck her hand into Kakashi's.

Ino was totally absorbed into trying to get Sakura into a good conversation about how they had gotten together, much to the aggravation of Kiba, who probably wanted Ino's attention to himself. Sakura noticed this and giggled abruptly, causing Ino to be confused.

"Hey, Sakura, what's so funny? I'm _trying _to talk to you…"

Meanwhile Naruto was saying to Kakashi,

"Oi, sensei…"

"I'm not your sensei anymore, Naruto. I haven't been for years now." Naruto waved his hand indifferently.

"Yeah, yeah. But, are you really with Sakura-chan?" Kakashi internally did a sweat drop. Did Naruto not gather this information from what he had witnessed the previous day?

"Yes, Naruto, we are together," Kakashi said monotone. Naruto narrowed his eyes, concentrating on his former sensei and scrutinizing him once more. Kakashi wondered if that was all Naruto had to say. He eyed Naruto back, waiting for him to say something. Finally Naruto gave a cry out and covered his face with his hands, his elbows on the table and leaning on them.

"Man! Everyone has hooked up with someone except me! I'm missing Hinata so much right now!" he said like a wounded puppy. Sakura and Ino had stopped their conversation and everyone was staring at him. Kakashi gave a nervous glance toward Sakura, then gave a huge sigh and put an awkward hand on Naruto's back, just glad he hadn't blown up.

Later during breakfast three men showed up, although not Han, and gave the usual smirk, though this time every single smirk was directed towards the new couple. Sakura pretended to blush, and everyone went back to their roles again.

XOXOXO

Everyone left for work pretty soon enough, and Kiba gave Ino a kiss good-bye as Kakashi gave Sakura gave kiss good-bye. Naruto waited sullenly by the door while the three men smirked and eyed the two couples. Then everyone was off.

XOXOXO

On the way back from work, Shikamaru made an appearance, coming for the usual report. His eyes widened in shock when he heard the news of Sakura and Kakashi, and after a thump on the head from Ino, he got out a,

"Troublesome women," followed by a, slightly louder, "Congratulations, Sakura. I'm sure Tsunade is going to be faint—with joy, let me tell you," he ended with sarcasm. "Just wish me luck , 'cause you're not the one that has to face her wrath. Anyways, see you…"

"Shikamaru?" Sakura stopped him from leaving right away. "Can you please not tell anyone but Hokage-sama about us? I'm not sure if Kakashi wants anyone to know about this yet," she said in a worried tone. Shikamaru had already turned, his hands in his pockets, and was beginning to walk away. He offered her a grin over his shoulder.

"Don't worry about it. See you guys in four or five days." He then was off. His meeting brought Sakura back to Earth from her reverie with a sickening thud. She had forgotten about telling everyone at home. What were they going to do?

XOXOXO

**How was that? REVIEW AND TELL ME!**

**I think I'm going to end it in two or three chapters, not sure yet. See you at the next update **


	15. Tsunade's fury

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto.**

**XOXOXO**

They were heading down the hallway after dinner, towards their room and talking casually with each other. And then, without warning, as Sakura walked into the room and heard the door being closed behind her, she found herself being twirled and then hit the wall, her back facing it. She blinked, and her eyes focused on Kakashi as he tore off his mask for just a second before his lips were on hers, not even giving her time to take a breath. She felt her knees become wobbly, and wrapped them around his waist for support.

"Do…you know…how much…I missed you…today?" Kakashi said breathily between kisses. He moved down to her neck and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling and the adrenaline rushing through her veins. And then she became lost in the feeling, addiction, and pleasure. The exchanged vows of love, whispered sweet words as she reached her peak and then came crashing down…

LATER

She lay in his arms, both of them connected in a pair of naked limbs and sweat. Her back was to him and his face cuddled in her neck. He was beginning to fall asleep, his eyelids starting to droop. Sakura bit her lip, the urge to cry fighting its way through her wall of self-control. This…this was all too sweet, she loved him too much. It hurt.

"Kakashi," she whispered, and he, recognizing the sadness in that whisper even through his mask of sleepiness, opened his eyes and trailed them to her face, which conveyed sadness but, at the same time, contentment. He spoke.

"Hmm?" There was a pause before she spoke. She knew he was looking at her, and blinked rapidly, trying not to cry.

"Do you…love me?" Kakashi answered without hesitation.

"More than the world, Sakura." He kissed her shoulder. She closed her eyes as if in pain.

"I know," she choked out, "Me too." And she began to cry silently, two identical tears emerging from both eyes. Kakashi was slightly alarmed.

"Hey…hey, what's the matter? What happened? Did I…did I say something wrong?" he spoke quickly, trying to figure out why she was crying. She shook her head.

"No," she whispered. "I'm just…" she paused, then opened her eyes and looked straight into his. "I'm just scared, Kashi. What will…what will become of us when we go back home? I…don't want to…lose you." She continued to cry, bending her face down and closing her eyes. Kakashi hurried to wipe them away.

"Hey…hey, Sakura, please don't cry. Look…look at me, Sakura." Sakura opened her eyes. "Whatever happens, whatever the Fifth does or says, I love you. And nobody can change that. Who cares what they say?"

"They'll say you molested your student." She said it with a small smile.

"Hey, what a student does with her sensei beyond the door of his bedroom is none of their business," Kakashi joked back. She smiled. There was silence for a few moments. Sakura wanted to pursue the subject further, but then, at the same time, also didn't want to. Later, Kakashi asked her about her old crush on Sasuke.

"Do you think you ever loved him?" Sakura was slightly alarmed, not having one idea of who he was talking about.

"Who?"

"Sasuke."

"Oh," was all she responded with. Truthfully, _had _she ever loved the raven-haired boy? Who now had tried to kill Naruto twice and her once? It hurt to think of him when she considered him as a crush and her love, but now that she only considered him as once one of her best friends, she…didn't know exactly how she felt about him, to be honest.

"So?" Kakashi said, waiting for an answer.

"I…don't know, honestly. I definitely know I don't love him now, and I definitely know that I once had a crush on him, but I think I was too young to be in love. I also know that I once thought I was in love with him, and it always hurts when I think that he's deserted us and doesn't care about us anymore. It hurts a lot," she added, her eyes misty and slightly saddened.

"Oh," it was Kakashi's turn to reply like this. Then he went on, "I think it hurts all of us. I still, sometimes, blame myself for what he has become. I know I could have stopped him, and then I hate myself. But…we all have our own paths to choose, and I guess…Sasuke chose the wrong one."

"You shouldn't hate yourself," she responded. "I know you would never intentionally do anything like that. I've thought about it a lot, Kashi, and I think that I always knew, even when I was younger, that Sasuke would always put his ambition in front of me—us."

"Hmm," Kakashi responded. Sakura picked up the sleepiness in his voice.

"Good night, Kashi." She pecked him on the cheek. She watched as a smile lit his face.

"'Night, Sakura," he whispered back.

XOXOXO

Word came from Tsunade after three days.

"Why so early?" was the first thing Ino said to him. His features were lined with aggravation. He glanced at Sakura before answering, and said it in a quiet, forlorn tone.

"The Fifth blew up. I had to get out of there." Sakura groaned, knowing beforehand the cause of Tsunade's fury. "That's right, you better be sorry. You know how angry she is right now?" Shikamaru couldn't continue because Ino hit him across the head. "Ow! Troublesome woman," he muttered.

"Oh, boo-hoo. Go cry on Temari's shoulder, don't give us that crap. What's the message?" Shikamaru gave her his signature annoyed look and continued, his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"First of all, Sakura and Kakashi are in big trouble when they get home. I think I recall Tsunade saying something about a slow, tortured death involving revolving spokes above a fire and leaving your bodies for the…" Ino stopped him, furious, and sent him ten meters up ahead of them with a raised fist.

"I SAID CUT THE CRAP YOU ASSHOLE!" Sakura was staring, wide-eyed, at Shikamaru in disbelief. She knew Tsunade wouldn't take it nicely, but she was really surprised by how mad she was. She ran up to Shikamaru.

"Oi, Shikamaru. Is she really that mad?" Shikamaru stood up with a sour look, nursing a swollen lip.

"Oh, she'll cool down after a bit. She always does. But she sends me to warn you guys that if you get sidetracked from the mission, you really are in for something…" he ended and sent Ino a scathing glare. Sakura hurried to tell him,

"No, no! We aren't getting sidetracked! Honestly! Tell her that, will you?"

"Hai, hai," he promised. He went on,

"And she's sending back-up soon. She obviously doesn't trust you guys up here. She told me to tell you this, word for word: 'As soon as my back-up gets there, the mission is over! Then you _will _get your asses over there so she can deal with you', etc., etc." Sakura did a sweat drop.

"WHAT? She's sending back-up?!?! But we haven't even made a plan, or anything…!" Shikamaru shrugged indifferently.

"Guess you better come up with one. I'd say you got three days, tops, maybe even two. Good luck. See you." He began to run away. Ino stopped him.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, YOU LAZY ASS!" But Shikamaru was gone, leaving her fuming. "He gets me so worked up sometimes!" Ino said dramatically, throwing her hands up in the air and walking up to catch up with Sakura.

Sakura's heart was sinking.

_Oh no, oh no…Tsunade's furious with us, and we've only got two days, three tops?! What will happen to us?_

XOXOXO

Kakashi gathered everyone in their room discreetly after dinner. They all spoke in whispers.

"OK, guys, we have two days, and we need a plan. Kiba and Naruto, starting tomorrow, you two will double the amount of men you talk to every day that you are trying to convince to get out of the group. How many did you get today?"

"Sixteen out of twenty-five tried," Kiba reported.

"Tomorrow it should be forty out of fifty tried. I don't expect more than that, but it would be great if that happened. So now, since we decreased the amount of people in the group, how many are still included?"

"Fifty-four," Naruto said uneasily. They had been working at it for a week now, and still, so many men were still in the group. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, hopefully, that number will be at least cut in half by day-after-tomorrow. If there are under thirty people in the group, they won't rise in revolt once we have taken Han, Dyn, Dan, and Wan."

They talked more for an hour more, than everyone retired to their rooms. Sakura purposely didn't say anything about Tsunade's fury, although Ino had hinted at it during their talk, resulting in raised eyebrows from Kakashi (he had his head protector off). But he didn't bring the subject up again, and neither did she.


	16. The day of the rebellion is here

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy.**

**I do not own Naruto**

**XOXOXO**

That next day everyone went off for their respective jobs. Although she knew Shikamaru had said two to three days, she still anxiously checked every one or two hours to see if anyone new had arrived in town and was roaming the streets in search of a 'Maduri' and a 'Rai'. Ino was getting quite annoyed with her, but Sakura didn't care.

At dinner, they were welcomed with the news that the brothers had planned on doing the revolt the day after tomorrow, which meant the 'third day' in Shikamaru's calculations. If, for some reason, the back-up didn't arrive by then, the five would have to deal with everyone on their own, which might result in unnecessary people getting hurt. They had to stay extra long at dinner to help with the plan in rebelling, and then they had to meet up in Kakashi and Sakura's room to further detail the plan of stopping the rebellion based on what they had learned that day. Kiba and Naruto had managed to get twenty-two people out of forty tried out of the rebel group, so things weren't looking down or up in that aspect. Now there were thirty-two people still in the group. Kakashi told them to try to get out as many as they could.

So they all went to sleep very late that night, and despite Sakura telling herself she would snatch any time with Kakashi that she could, in case they didn't get it back when they returned to Konoha, she passed out as soon as she hit the bed and didn't get to stay up chatting or doing 'other things' with him. Still she had not told him of Tsunade possibly torturing them slowly and painfully when they go home. She didn't want to bring up a subject as gloomy as that.

Kakashi now only slept in his boxers, while Sakura in nothing but underwear and a T-shirt. She still cuddled to him closer than ever at nights, and he still welcomed her embrace. But Kakashi noticed, although didn't say anything about, Sakura clinging to him closer than usual, and sometimes he woke that night and she looked as if she was having a nightmare, whispering,

"No, Kashi…no…_don't go_!"

He knew something was genuinenly bothering her, and had an idea of what it was. He himself also dreaded going back to Konoha and being faced with the possibility of having to part with her.

And Sakura _was _having nightmares. She would be at the gates of Konoha, crying, for some reason. Kakashi was up ahead, walking with his friends and talking and laughing while walking away, seemingly unaware of her grief.

"No! Kashi! No, DON'T GO!" she would sob over and over. He didn't seem to hear. She would start to run, but all of a sudden the gates were closed in front of her, forbidding her to go. And she would cry out again and again…

She woke up the next morning feeling as if she hadn't slept at all. Kakashi was already gone; she could hear a shower running. Her heart sank slightly. Usually he waited for her to wake so he could kiss her forehead, ask her how she had slept, and tell her how much he loved to watch her sleep before getting up to take a shower. She checked the clock. She had woken up half an hour later than she usually did.

He probably got tired of waiting…for me… 

She felt as if it was all her fault, and suddenly had an urge to cry as the previous night's dream was fresh on her mind. But then a voice inside her spoke,

_Stop being stupid, Sakura. Kakashi would never leave you. It was only a dream. And he has things to do, it's not like he can nurse your every need and whim. So stop crying over something so stupid and pull your act together._

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes out of their sleepiness and wetness from the pre-tears. She hauled herself out of bed and rose to face the day.

XOXOXO

That day she checked at least twice an hour to see if they had arrived yet. But it was in vain. The day progressed slowly as if it was never going to end, and still the back-up had not arrived. Even Ino was starting to get worried. Both wondered what was keeping them and if they had run into any trouble.

On the bright side, There were now only twenty-eight people on the rebellion (if that could be considered on the bright side) and Han, Dyn, Wan, and Dan still had no idea of what was taking place as only around one-fourth of their original mutiny force remained.

However, back on the dark side, the four conspirators planned to attack as soon as work started. Desperately and not in vain, the five tried to convince the four evil men to wait until noon to go forth with the rebellion, without seeming like they were trying to just postpone it long enough for the back-up to get there. The five could definitely handle kidnapping four men that had once been ninjas, but if they violently engaged with the twenty-eight men still on the rebellion, the people of the village might turn their heads against them and join with the rebellion, which would be bad, since they would have no way of stopping them. The villagers were likely to favor the other side because they had known those twenty-eight men probably a lot longer than the five shinobi, and would trust them more, despite whose judgement was actually right. So they needed all the time they could get for the back-up to get there and back them up so that the twenty-eight men would feel scared enough not to go through with the mutiny.

That night Kakashi sent Naruto, who was the most energetic and willing for the job, to pose as look-out for their back-up. Then, the other half of the night, Kiba and Akamaru would take over. Ino would be making sure the four evil men never suspected of their comings and goings, and Sakura and Kakashi were to be their leading force the next morning, so they were free to sleep. But, they didn't sleep. They sat up almost all night, chatting and cherishing those moments which might never come back. Their three comrades, which once might have argued about them doing all the work and Sakura and Kakashi doing nothing, respected and encouraged this idea now, because everyone knew that they needed to use this time and enjoy each other's company like they would never talk to each other again.

XOXOXO

The next morning everyone was ready by five in the morning, and collected to go over the plan in Kakashi and Sakura's bedroom to go over the plan once more, in case back-up didn't show. At breakfast, they tolerated the four men's glee at this being the day their evil plan coming together, and then everyone went their separate ways, acting like it was a regular day. This day they checked at least once every five minutes to see if their back-up was arriving. As ten o' clock swung around, they were beginning to become very distraught and their employer aggravated at their clumsiness and repeated checks down the road. Then eleven, came, and, in despair, twelve. The man dismissed them for lunch. They waited, biting their nails apprehensively, as ten minutes later everyone from the mines came for lunch. Dyn, Han, Wan, and Dan were leading them. They stopped the group and ordered to the men at the gate to the village.

"REBEL FORCES GET READY! IN YOUR LINES!"

Sakura and Ino counted as twenty-eight men emerged from the group and went to their respective group leaders. They saw Kakashi, Kiba, and Naruto standing at the front of the lines as team leaders. The four men looked on in shock at the small number.

"WHAT?" Han bellowed. "WHAT IS GOING ON HERE? WHERE IS OUR REBEL GROUP?"

Everyone in the village had gathered outside, observing the noisy gathering, and whispering amongst themselves,

"Hey what's happening there?"

"What are they talking about rebels?"

"Why are they so mad?"

"Are they assembling an attack force?"

"Are they going to attack us?"

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?"

Etc., etc.

Sakura and Ino shared a very worried glance. Suddenly, they looked up, and saw seven people perched on the high gates at the entrance of the city, overlooking the group of miners. Sakura's face instantly lit up as she recognized their Black Op uniforms.

"Ino! Ino, look! They're here!"

The two raced and stood in front of their three guy friends, who were joined with the seven Black Ops. The men looked on in shock, and some in confusion. The four men who plotted looked on in terror and shock at the betrayal.

"What—What's happening?" Dan asked weakly. One Black Op answered.

"You four are going to be arrested for trying to organize a mutiny and take over the mines. These five have been working undercover this whole time, and now we've got you. You should just come silently, and…"

"NEVER!" Han screamed in mad rage. The miners, previous rebels or not, were shrinking away from the group, and soon it was just the four men and the twelve shinobi. He looked about him, seeing there was no one there to support him except for his brothers. He was crazy in his anger, as were his brothers.

"YOU FILTHY TRAITORS!"

"HOW DARE YOU, YOU PIECES OF SHIT! HOW DARE YOU BETRAY US?"

The four charged. It was unexpected, so no one was ready. They were just a few feet away, and only three were stopped in their effort. The fourth, without warning, snatched Sakura's hand and hurled her over him with inhuman strength. He was Dyn. She was not scared, just shocked, as he held a kunai to her throat. His eyes were sparkling in a sort of crazy way, and his words came along with spit that showered the ground. He was in a mad frenzy.

"NOW, I SHALL KILL _HER_! For what you have done, this is what you get!" He paused suddenly, seeming to be thinking of something, and smirked. Then he unexpectedly shifted his hold on her so he was holding her by the hair painfully and facing him. He gazed at her, "Or perhaps, maybe I'll just take and torture this whore. She _is _a pretty one, isn't she?" he was smirking, thinking all the cards were in his hands. But he was wrong.

He stopped abruptly. Sakura had instantly stabbed her kunai into him as far as it would go. He was frozen, paralyzed, not expecting that from her. He let go of her, but a second later, he recovered. He lunged for her, but she easily dodged. He hit the dirt, groaning in pain. Kakashi was furious. How dare he touch Sakura! How dare he even THINK about doing that to her!

He had fallen at Kakashi's feet. Kakashi rose a foot and with his highest level of strength, crushed it on the man's head. Dyn howled as his head was dug into the ground. The ninja behind him looked on in surprise. Kakashi never went farther than he had to when it came to fighting; everyone knew that. If someone was down, and was definitely not a threat anymore, Kakashi usually left him/her. Kakashi's brow was furried; no one had ever seen him this angry. There was silence amongst everyone as Kakashi then snatched up Dyn by the collar, holding him up so his feet weren't touching the ground. The man coughed and sputtered. Kakashi voiced his thoughts.

"How _dare_ you, you bastard, even _think_…" he was cut off.

"Oi, Kakashi…come on, it's OK… put him down," someone said, and he/she was echoed: two Black Ops were trying to calm him down. Kakashi didn't say anything, still glaring at Dyn and raising him in the air by his collar. Then, as if he hadn't heard a thing his comrades had said, he raised his fist that wasn't holding the man up and pulled it back, getting ready to punch him. It was flying towards Dyn, when…

"Kashi!" Sakura whispered as she slipped her hand in his. He immediately stopped. His angry features disappeared. His fist was frozen in the air. After a moment, he dropped the disgusting man, and glared at him.

"Right," he said venomously. Everyone was staring at him. There was a pause. Kiba finally broke the silence.

"Well, I think these villagers deserve an explanation about what happened," he said. The Black Ops nodded.

"OK," someone said. Sakura's hand was still tucked in Kakashi's as someone explained what happened to everyone and declared all the miners that had planned on participating were forgiven since they had been tricked. The four men, who were all still alive but all had bruises, were tied up tightly and carried off to the town jail (note: sorry I didn't mention earlier the town had a jail).

Then they all went to the house to gather everyone's belongings. After everyone was ready, they had lunch prepared by the girls, visited the leader so they good bade him good-bye and he could thank them, and they were off, Sakura's heart sinking lower every mile they got closer to Konoha. The Black Ops were the ones that told Kakashi of Tsunade's anger, although they weren't told and didn't know why she was angry. They said that Tsunade had cooled off after some while, but they had been told to tell the two to meet with her when they reached Konoha and the rest could go back home.

They stopped to sleep for the night, and nobody questioned them as Sakura and Kakashi shared a tent, even though the mission was over and there was no need to.

XOXOXO

**Hi guys! This one was posted a little later than usual, but it's really long, isn't it? Tell me what you think! The next chapter I think will be the last. You guys rock out there, keep the reviews coming!**


	17. Confrontation with Tsunade

**Here's another one, hope you enjoy.**

I do not own Naruto This one is a lot longer, review and tell me how you like it! XOXOXO 

That night neither of them went to sleep right away, although they were very tired. They just laid in silence, with, as always, Sakura cuddling up to Kakashi, her head under his and her face buried in his chest, which acted as a moving pillow with the moving in and out of his chest.

"I guess everyone here probably can guess that we're together now," Kakashi whispered. Sakura said nothing but snaked her hand around him, as in a comforting gesture. "You knew Tsunade had gotten mad, didn't you?" he asked, not at all in an accusing way but more like in questioning one.

"Hmm," she confirmed. "Do you think Tsunade will really be that mad when we get there? You know, enough to have something happen to us?" although she had been the woman's apprentice, she still wanted to know how Kakashi thought she would act.

"Well, they said she was really mad. But she always cools down. Anyways, why was she so mad in the first place? Wouldn't you think she would either not care or just be annoyed? It's kind of odd she got so mad," he said. Sakura answered.

"I think either she thought it was jeopardizing the mission, or I'm too young to think I'm in love and you're taking advantage of me or something." Kakashi gave a chuckle.

"Well, am I taking advantage of you?" he asked teasingly. Sakura giggled.

"Yes, I'm hopeless, clueless, young girl who is in love," she answered, and turned upwards for a kiss.

XOXOXO

The next day they all got up, ate breakfast, cleaned up camp, and left. Konoha was only a few hours away. The closer they got, even Kakashi started to get quieter and not involved in the conversation. Occasionally she could feel his eyes on her, as she was ahead of him with Ino, Naruto, and Kiba and he was with his Black Op friends.

Noon came, and left, and soon they were only a few miles away from Konoha. Once the gates came into view Sakura, without realizing it, had slowed down a little to run alongside Kakashi. At the gates, Izumo and Kotetsu again reminded the two that Tsunade had requested them to come to her office, which wasn't necessary, but obviously she had told them to remind the two anyway, and everyone else to go home. Naruto, Kiba, and Ino gave them sympathetic smiles as they walked away, while the Black Ops merely disappeared without another word.

Kakashi and Sakura were in no hurry to get to the Hokage. She un-doubtfully knew they had arrived, and would probably be aggravated that they had come late, but, as Kakashi put it, he was "always late anyways, so she would expect that, and if she didn't, she should." They even stopped to get pastries on the way there so they could munch on them and make their way leisurely to the big red dome. Soon, they heard someone scream out Sakura's name.

"Sakura-san!" It was Lee, running around in his green outfit and his vest on, and his eyebrows as bushy as ever. He gave her his 'nice guy' smile. "You are back from your mission? Hello, Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi greeted Lee, although not warmly. More like how he always talked to Guy, indifferent and cool. Lee went on, "How did your power of youth fare on the mission?" he inquired in his happy-go-lucky way that really annoyed Kakashi. Sakura, however, thought Lee as a friend, and, although she had also felt a little annoyed, she hid it.

"Oh, um, it went well. The mission was accomplished."

Lee went on and on, and Sakura could feel Kakashi's aggravation next to her.

"And you have been gone so long! So I am VERY happy to see you smiling as the power of youth prevails once more!" He jumped up in the air in glee. Sakura gave a nervous laugh.

"Thanks, Lee, uh, we actually have to report to Tsunade-sama about the mission, and it's getting pretty late. Talk to you later, OK?" Lee gave her his 'nice guy' pose.

"Definitely! Hey, Sakura-san, um…" he suddenly looked nervous. "Would you like to…go out…for dinner, tonight?" Sakura was stunned. It had been three years since Lee had asked her out, and she had thought he had gotten over her. Lee was blushing. However, Sakura could not ignore (it was kind of impossible) how Kakashi had visibly stiffened beside her, although it seemed like Lee had not noticed this. She didn't know what to say. She tried to be kind,

"That would be really fun some other time, Lee, but, um, I'm already with someone right now…" She felt Kakashi relax slightly beside her, as Lee looked distraught for a second before immediately smiling.

"That's fine, Sakura-san. Who is…" he was interrupted.

"Oi, KAKASHI!" They turned to see Genma making his way through the crowd towards the three. Lee smiled at them, said good-bye, and left. Sakura inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as Kakashi totally relaxed, going back into his 'lazy' pose, his hands stuffed in his pockets and looking indifferent.

"Hey, Genma," he said.

"Hey! You back from your almost two-month long mission finally? Glad to see you back, man."

"Thanks, Genma."

"Hey, no problem, no problem. You up for drinks tonight? We're meeting up today, you got home just in time." Kakashi shook his head at his friend.

"I don't think I can make it tonight, Genma. I'm not sure I'll be up to it." To emphasize his point, he gave a small yawn. His friend obviously didn't believe him. His eyes flickered towards Sakura.

"You guys on a date or something?" he questioned. Sakura's eyes widened at his nosy-ness. Kakashi made no surprised movements.

"Not now. We have to get to Tsunade to report for the mission. See you later, Genma; we're getting late." And in the blink of an eye, he steered Sakura away. Genma was a confused. Since when had Kakashi cared about being late? And had heard right? Had Kakashi said "_Not now_," which could possibly mean they could be going out some other time? Genma shook his head and flicked around the senbon in his mouth, walking away to get dressed to go to the bar with his friends.

XOXOXO

Sakura, with a deep breath and confidence coming to her as Kakashi placed a hand on her shoulder, raised her hand and knocked twice on the hard wood door. For a second there was nothing. Then,

"Come in." They heard the Hokage invite them in with a forlorn voice. This, however, somehow did not make her shrink away and she, like Kakashi, walked in without a sense of fear or dread in her attitude or on her face. Tsunade was sitting at the desk, her brow crunched together and frowning at them with her 'stage one' glare. Shizune was looking at them in shock. Obviously, she had already known, but seeing them there at that moment was probably surprising for her. Ton-ton was making excited squeals.

"Greetings, Hokage-sama," Kakashi said, in a way that said nothing was different than their previous follow-up-after-mission meetings. Tsunade focused all of her stage one fury on Kakashi.

"You're late. Again! What is the meaning of this?? I had Hagane and Kamizuki make sure to remind you to report here as soon as you arrived!" Sakura was amazed at Kakashi's lack of fear at all. Usually even he cringed whenever he had to deal with this Sannin's anger. But this time, he gave his legendary one-eyed smile, his hand coming to rest behind his head.

"Well, you see, we were taking a shortcut on the way here through an alley when an army of rogue ninjas attacked us…"

"ENOUGH!"

Even though Sakura started a little at the exclamation, she had to suppress the urge to smile.

Does he purposely try to make his stories unbelievable? 

There was a pause as Shizune shrank at the exclamation and Ton-ton followed suit. Kakashi, however, merely stuffed his hands in his pockets and Sakura felt a smile play on her lips. Tsunade continued,

"I'm sick of your excuses for being late, Hatake. You are a shinobi and must act like one! Well, don't just stand there like idiots, was the mission a success? Or did you get _sidetracked _for some reason that is beyond the scope of my imagination??"

"Ah, no. They mission was a success. It went quite well actually, and I actually enjoyed the past one-and-a-half months very much." Tsunade fixed him suddenly with her 'stage two' glare without warning. Kakashi merely averted his gaze towards pictures fixed on the wall of missing Nin, seeming to all of a sudden take great interest in examining them. There was a pause before Tsunade continued in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Look, I don't know exactly what has been going on while you two were out of the country but this is certainly not something I wouldn't expect from you, Sakura. As for Kakashi, I am shocked beyond belief. I never would have believed you would stoop to such levels. I really don't know what to say to you two, but I certainly know that whatever has happened stops _now_. I don't even _want _to know what you two have come back after doing…" She was suddenly interrupted by a very embarrassed Sakura that was also shocked that her Hokage could think they were children and didn't know what they were doing.

"Hokage-same, _please_!" she said, asking without saying it for her previous sensei to stop saying what she was saying. Tsunade looked at her with a stern expression.

"Sakura, do you even know what you are saying? He is your previous sensei, nine years older than you…"

"That's what I was saying at the beginning but you said that it didn't matter!" Sakura once again interrupted. Tsunade stood up, slamming her hands on her table.

"That was to tell you this mission and the title I had given you two were for professional purposes only! I thought I could trust you two in acting professional! But then I find out I am mistaken when Nara comes and tells me you two are taking advantage of the situation to engage in a relationship that is clearly rashly decided and not sincere…"

"With all do respect, Hokage-sama," Kakashi butted in with a slightly cold tone, "This relationship was one hundred percent sincere. I was never taking advantage of Sakura because of lust-filled desires. I would never dream of doing so."

Sakura blushed but looked on, and tried to drain her face of the color. Tsunade looked surprised at Kakashi's outburst. But then she resumed frowning, although not as angrily as before. She narrowed her eyes and focused her glare on Kakashi, who had finally tore his gaze away from the missing nin and focused his eye on the frowning lady before him without a trace of fear. Rather, a little spark had sizzled inside of him at the Hokage's doubt of the sincerity of his and Sakura's actions.

"So, Kakashi, you expect me to believe that you two are in a serious, sincere relationship that is not based upon bodily desires?" her gaze flickered a few times towards Sakura during her question. Kakashi answered evenly.

"Hai." Tsunade turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, are you with him totally on this?" Sakura tried to look straight into her eyes like Kakashi.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," she answered, surprising the woman who had never seen any resistance from Sakura towards her. She started, and there was a long pause. Tsunade analyzed their faces, their expressions, and then said, surprising them all very much,

"Sakura, do you love him?" her voice had softened very considerably, although there was still a slight stern edge. Sakura flashed a glance at the said man and then looked away. His eye had been filled with emotion and his face looked on softly. Sakura and himself had vowed their love for each other numerous times, but there was a big difference to saying to him and to declaring it to others, he knew. Sakura only paused for a second before replying in a quiet voice,

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Tsunade really looked shocked at that point. She then asked the question to Kakashi, who responded with the same answer as Sakura, although in a louder voice. Tsunade slumped in her chair, not having heard what she thought she was going to hear that night.

"Shizune, get me some sake, will you?" she said weakly. She had thought she knew the situation perfectly, but for some reason she had never considered that they were in _love_. Just in a fling that was stupid and rash in the first place and they hadn't thought of what such a fling could do to them in the future. But now that they had both confessed their love for each other, the situation was totally different. She bent forward and set her hands on the table, staring at the both of them with deep, clear, searching eyes.

"I want to know how this happened, and the full story," she informed them. Sakura and Kakashi exchanged a glance before again looking away.

"Where should we start, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked quietly. She fixed her eyes on him.

"I want to know everything. From the beginning. From Day One."

There was a pause. They didn't say anything, not knowing where to start. Tsunade gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine. I guess I'm going to have to help you, will I? OK. When was the first time you two started having farther-than-friend feelings for each other?"

There was a pause before they answered.

"Once I got to know him better."

"Once I got to know her better."

Tsunade sighed again. All her previous angry features were lost and were replaced by the same expression she used when Shizune dumped a bunch of paperwork on her.

"And when was this?"

Shizune came in, delivered the sake, and left. The two were allowed to sit on chairs that were pulled out for them as they told everything. Once they had blurted out the news about their first kiss, Tsunade had been taking her first sip of sake and had sent it spurting everywhere. She had given them a stern look and was about to reprimand them about keeping their desires in check when she caught a hold of herself and brought up her small cup to sip some more sake, waving her hand to tell them to go on.

XOXOXO

Tsunade yawned ten minutes later.

"…Uh huh, so the bastard Han tried to hit you, eh? OK, OK. What happened next…?" she took another sip of sake. Sakura relayed the information of the hits she had laid on him, getting a grin from Tsunade. However, after that, they both stopped, uncomfortable to continue. Tsunade laid down her cup. "Come on, come on. We haven't got all day and we're only halfway done…" she examined the looks on their faces, and then her eyes narrowed. She went on, in a stern voice. "Let me guess. You went running into _his_…" she jerked a thumb towards Kakashi, "…arms?" Sakura blushed and nodded. Tsunade had thought that was all, but the two were still showing signs of un-comfort. Tsunade's eyes narrowed further. "And that was _all_, right? Nothing _else_ happened?"

"Uh…" Kakashi had found his voice, but said nothing more. Tsunade suddenly sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"Oh no. Don't tell me you took her virginity…?"

They said nothing.

Now, normally Tsunade's voice would raise slightly at this news, but she was drained, and only moaned and groaned. Then she spoke, "How many times?" in a whiny voice. Kakashi shrugged, Sakura still said nothing.

There was a pause. Tsunade suddenly pushed back her chair and forced herself to stand with a sigh. "Sakura. Come with me for a second. Kakashi, you stay here." Sakura rose dumbly. Kakashi, who was slumped in his chair, stared inquiringly. Tsunade made a "tsk" sound. "Don't worry, Hatake, I'll get your bride back to you soon enough. Just rough it for a few minutes. I have to do something. Come, Sakura."

They left, leaving Kakashi slumped in his chair. This gave him time to think. Wait, so did this mean that they were allowed to stay together or not? And…Sakura loved him. She really did. With a start, he realized how much he loved her too. He cradled his face in his hands, leaning on his elbows. He didn't know how long he had been waiting when he heard the door open. He jerked his face up sleepily, as he had been half-asleep. Sakura was blushing furiously, and Tsunade was leading her in, her teeth gritted and her brow crunched, and some papers in her hand. Sakura took a seat. Kakashi took her hand in his.

"Hey," he whispered to her. "What happened?"

Tsunade answered for him. She slammed her hands on the desk and fixed them each with a new glare. Obviously some anger was still left in her.

"Sakura's pregnant!"

XOXOXO

**Hey! I know I said this would be the last chapter but there's going to be one more. That, though, is definitely going to be the last. Review, please! And check out my other story, 'A Mistake'. It's another Kakashi/Sakura story you peoples might like. AGAIN, REVIEW!**


	18. The end

Here's another one, hope you enjoy. 

**I do not own Naruto.**

**XOXOXO**

"Huh-_what_? Sakura—Sakura's…" Tsunade stomped around the desk to stand in front of the flabbergasted Kakashi. She was in the fury of her 'stage three' glare, sending all of it towards him. Without wasting a second, she took a hold of the Copy Nin's shirt and lifted him in the hair, then gave him a shake. The most learned (jutsu wise) ninja in Konoha hang limply in the air, making no effort to get away, shocked beyond belief.

"Don't you "huh" "what" me, Hatake!! You bastard, haven't you ever heard of _condoms_???"

"Ha—Hai! Of…of course we used them…we probably just forgot once…or twice…" he trailed off weakly. Tsunade gave him another violent shake before dropping him on the chair. She, herself, deemed Kakashi the one at fault. Sakura had been innocent—she hadn't ever done it before and probably didn't know the importance of such things, but Kakashi had definitely not been a rookie their first time.

"Damn, what have you two gotten yourselves into?!?!" she continued ranting. Kakashi stared at Sakura, or more specifically, her stomach area. _That _was going to be as huge as beach ball in eight months? Sakura had grabbed his hand, because he looked (and was) shaken. She squeezed it gently, which brought Kakashi's eyes to her face. Sakura was biting her lip, her brow creased, looking very troubled, and her eyes, when she looked at him, were filled with emotion and worry. Both were pretty much ignoring Tsunade's rants. When Kakashi brought his hand up to cup Sakura's cheek lovingly as they still stared at each other, Tsunade realized that her speech was going unheard. She was at that point really mad. She screamed,

"Are you even _listening _to me, you bastards?!?!" before taking them both by the ear and raising them up. They, still oblivious to what she had been saying, gasped in pain as they were raised by their ears. Tsunade brought them closer and screamed at the sides of their faces, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE?" They both jumped and cringed. She let go of them, and they slumped in their seats. They moaned and rubbed their sore ears, then finally directed their attention to the practically steaming with fury Tsunade in front of them, who soon went on. "Well, DO YOU? In nine months, a child with the surname of Hatake will be in this world and out of her stomach! _Do you realize that_?" They cringed again.

"Hai," Sakura said in a small voice for both of them.

"No, I don't think you do! You two bastards probably don't realize how much time you must devote to this child! _The rest of your lifetime!_ What are you going to do when it's born? When that happens, you have a _human life _on your hands!! A life you must protect, cherish and bring up in a good way. For freaking sake, _this child will decide the rest of your life_! Are you ready for that?!?"

Her words had frozen both of them. A very long silence ensued in which Tsunade glared at them, expecting an answer, and the ice slowly melted away into the air. But still they said nothing, for they knew not what to respond with. Tsunade lowered her voice so it was deadly quiet, although her anger was still evident in it.

"Are you two going to _keep this child or not_? Are you two going to take up the responsibility of _being parents or not_?"

Still the both didn't know what to say. Tsunade's eyes narrowed further, and she went on,

"I'm going to go out for ten minutes. Talk it over. Honestly, I can't believe you two were so irresponsible and stupid in your actions. You two…" she went on ranting until the door closed behind her, and probably continued going on after that as well.

However frozen they might've seemed when she was in the room, as soon as she left, they turned to each other.

"Sakura, I want the baby," he said quietly, but in a very audible way. His eyes grew intense and his gaze did not linger from her face. Sakura bit her lip. Kakashi waited for her to say something, and she detected he thought she did not want the baby and uncomfortable telling him.

"Kakashi…it's not that I don't want the baby; I want it too. But this will totally reveal our relationship to the community. Are you ready for that yet?" her voice, unlike Kakashi's, was a bit shaken with emotion. He sensed she was getting a little troubled and overwhelmed by the strange rush of news they had received that evening, and he took her hand in his.

"Sakura, I love you; I wasn't lying about that at all. And if I were to continue to love you, and you me, then our relationship would have been revealed eventually anyways. I don't care about the community's opinions about us; they can kiss my ass for all I care. And…this baby…I _really _want it. I want it with you. But…if you don't want our relationship revealed yet, tell me. It's OK. We can always wait; I'm ready to wait for you. Tell me."

Sakura was so overwhelmed by everything and his words that she couldn't stop a tear from escaping one of her wide green eyes. Then, without warning, she flung her arms around him and buried her face in his neck. He, though surprised at first about the embrace, quickly relaxed and welcomed it. Sakura then spoke.

"I…was having doubts about having the baby and everything…but I'll do it…" she paused, before going on, "If we're together, I'm sure we can overcome everything…and you'd be the greatest father ever." A smile lit both their lips. Kakashi responded,

"As you'd be a wonderful mother, and wife."

He brought up his hand to his mouth as he spoke and ripped off his mask. Sakura saw this and met him halfway to the kiss. They both poured all of themselves into it, making each of them in turn enjoying the most memorable kiss ever, in which instantly all awareness of anything else disappeared out of existence. Sakura leaned farther into the kiss, wanting more, wanting more of him. His chair gave away and fell back, the fall of it breaking the passion created by their connected lips. They broke apart, breathing heavily.

BANG! 

Kakashi, on instinct, instantly covered his face with his mask, and Sakura was in the process of rising when the door fell down, revealing a Tsunade with her fist outstretched, and a frightened and barely peaking in Shizune and Ton-ton. Tsunade saw Kakashi sprawled on the floor, his chair awry, and Sakura in the process of shooting up from her laying position with a blush forming on her face. The old woman's eyes narrowed and she stomped in.

"CAN'T I LEAVE YOU TWO ALONE FOR TEN_ MINUTES?_"

XOXOXO

Kakashi and Sakura strolled down the empty streets of Konoha, Kakashi's arm comfortably around Sakura's shoulders and both of them recovering from the events of the night. After Tsunade had caught them like that, there had been a two-minute screaming session, followed by a five-minute lecturing session, followed by Tsunade asking if she had read the situation right and they were going to keep the baby. After confirming this, they had truly married by signing their names on formal documents, with the audience of Tsunade, Shizune and Ton-ton, been congratulated, talked some matters over, and then finally left. Now the time had already passed eleven o' clock, and everyone was at home, save people getting drunk in the streets. As they neared one noisy bar, three men exited, the trio swinging here and there, evidence of their drunken state. Among those was Genma, who was supporting one passed out man with the help of another guy. He suddenly stopped at seeing the two of them.

"Hey, Kakashi! How you doin'? You're pretty late; we've already all gotten drunk…man, you should've come earlier! Man! Hey! Who—who's dat? Hey, sweetie, how you doin'? Wait—wait! You that chick my man here was with earlier! You guys…together or somethin'?"

"Yes, Genma. We are. How many damn sake's did you down anyway?"

Genma swayed.

"Not—not much. Some bastards challenged me and my man here to a drinking contest earlier tonight…you can see how well we did…Anyways! You sure are lucky, man, I couldn't round up one chick tonight…See ya later, man!"

He waved, and then him and his half-asleep friend began dragging their other friend away again, swaying and tripping as they went. Kakashi sighed.

"Sorry, Sakura, usually he's not like that. But he has a limit to how many he can down, and once he reaches it and goes past it, he's a drunken bastard," Kakashi ended bluntly. Sakura giggled.

"No problem, Kashi." She leaned her head on his shoulder as they walked the rest of the way to his apartment, both of them talking of non-important things related to the rest of their life together and other stuff. Soon they reached the apartment complex, mounted the stairs, and were in his apartment. He flicked on the lights of the slightly dejected place, and after casting a look at it, sheepishly gave his one-eyed smile.

"Sorry for the mess. You see, I…" Sakura laughed. Her laugh sent shivers down his spine, though in a good way. His heart thudded in his chest at her laugh.

"Kashi, no use in making up some excuse for me. I know very well you were just going to make one up." She grinned at him and disappeared into his room like she owned the place.

Well, technically, she does… 

He smirked and followed her.

He heard a shower running as he neared his bedroom. She was probably tired and had thought a shower would clear her mind. Kakashi's smirk grew wider and he entered the bedroom.

Sakura flicked on the shower and stepped inside, shivering at its warmth over her body. She found the soap and began cleaning herself, her eyes closed and she was in deep thought. She didn't hear someone enter the bathroom and when she felt hands circling her, she jumped and squeaked. Kakashi chuckled behind her.

"What were you thinking of, Mrs. Hatake?" he whispered huskily into her ear. As she began to smile she felt his lips on her neck, trailing down as he sucked and licked. Sakura moaned. The water was still beating down on them. Kakashi's silver hair was matted over his head, and Sakura continued to groan in pleasure as he ravished her. She felt the absence of the flowing water on her skin, and opened her eyes as a towel was wrapped around her. She pouted.

"No fair. How can you just start like that and stop?" she whined to him. Kakashi just grinned as they left the bathroom. As she was walking into the bedroom, however, she squealed as she felt herself being pushed onto the bed. Kakashi was instantly hovering above her, inches from her face as their chests touched.

"Who said I was going to stop?" he said to her, and so went on the wedding night of Kakashi and Sakura.

XOXOXO

**Epilogue.**

"OBITO, COME BACK HERE RIGHT _NOW_!"

A nine-year old Obito ignored the speaker and laughed, his cheery face covered in mud and his clothes soaked also with the filth, leaving a trail as he ran through the house away from his mother. He looked over his shoulder, still beaming mischievously.

_Smack!_

He was stopped as he ran right into something—or somebody. He fell down, and was instantly up, rubbing his head. He was grumbling as the woman drew nearer. He could not get away now. He glared up at the intruder, who was of considerable height and he had to almost crane his neck to look at. First he registered the black pants, and upwards his small head traveled, as he saw the green chunin vest that was over a black shirt. Still he looked upwards, into the man's face. Instantly the little boy's expression changed from resentment to pure joy.

"Daddy!" he shrieked. He raised his hands and was scooped into the air by his father, who ruffled his son's silver hair. The boy closed his emerald eyes as he giggled. Finally the woman reached them, holding a towel. As soon as she laid her eyes upon the just-arrived man, her face also instantly changed from fury to happiness.

"Kakashi!" she exclaimed. Kakashi lowered slightly to plant a small kiss on her lips.

"Missed me?" he said, laughter in his voice. Sakura smiled, than spied Obito again and frowned as she saw the muddy boy was dirtying his father's clothes.

"Obito Hatake, come here this instant," she demanded, unfolding the towel so as to get some of the filth off of him. At that moment, two little girls rushed up to them. Kakashi gave his son to Sakura and scooped up the twins, Maduri and Rin, both sporting pink hair and dark, though wide, eyes.

It had been ten years. Ino and Kiba had married and Ino was currently pregnant for their second child. Shikamaru and Temari had become engaged one year after Sakura and Kakashi had married, and after Shikamaru had gotten out of the hospital from injuries given to him by both her brothers, they had also married and had one child. Naruto was thought by all to be on the road to becoming the Hokage. There was no competition, and even the Fifth knew that he would be her successor when she retired the next year. Hinata and him had married six years ago, and they had just had their fifth child (poor Hinata!). Even Neji and Ten-ten had hooked up, and Shino was leading a happily married life with one of his clan. And here, the biggest news of all (well, sort of). Sasuke had returned after killing his brother. He had only been able to because he had saved Naruto's life during the battle, and although Sasuke had still not married, he was the Godfather of all Naruto and Hinata's children, and was third in line to the top shinobi of the village, after Naruto and Kakashi, of course.

And Sakura and Kakashi couldn't be happier. Their son, Obito, with his father and mother's training, was on his way to be the top of his class, although he was still the biggest troublemaker in Konoha. He also had acquired a sort of perverted personality, having perfected the Sexy Justu with Konohamaru's help, much to his mother's disappointment. Kakashi wasn't really any help in that area, always reading those perverted books, although he _did _make sure to keep his collection out of Obito's reach. The twins were currently in their first year at the academy, and very popular among everyone, not excluding guys, although Kakashi kept a strict tab on their friends that were male, even if they were only seven.

Here ends my tale. bows to the crowd

**XOXOXO**

**Here it ends, folks! I can't believe it's really over! I had a lot of fun writing this, and you guys have been great. In case you're wondering, Sasuke eventually finds someone, don't worry, although I'll let you make up your own original character. However, she has to be a part of some mighty clan and also have a personality that makes you laugh, because Sasuke needs someone like that.**

**Tell me how you guys all liked the story. As this is only my second fic (first when it comes to a fic that's not a one-shot), I'm kind of new at this but I did my best with all of your help! I really did listen to what you guys said in the reviews and tried to shape it around that better so you all would like it better. Hope you enjoyed! And if you want, check out my other Kaka/Sakura fic, 'A Mistake'. I have been neglecting it lately but I will get back to it since this fic is now over. Bye!**


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